S B 








DUCHESSE D'ANGOULEME, 10 VFAKS OLD. 



Pear Culture for Profit. 






BY 



P{^T. QUINN. 



NEW EDITION, 

REVISBD BY THE AUTHOB. 



it 





NEW YORK; 

ORANGE JUDD COMPANY, 

751 BROADWAY. 

1883. 



Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1883, by the 

ORANGE JUDD COMPANY, 

In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington. 



t) 



CONTENTS. 



Pbepacb ix 

Introdoctobt Chaptkb xi 

CHAPTER I. 

Varieties 13 

A complete list of kinds 14 

Consult the fruit merchant 15 

. Fennsjlvania Horticultural Society 16 

CHAPTER II. 

Aspect 17 

Shelter an orchard 18 

A hedge of pears 19 

CHAPTER III. 

Preparatiok of the Soil 20 

Lifting sub-soil plow 21 

Laying tiles 22 

Basement story 23 

Alternate freezing and thawing 24 

Trees over-bearing 25 

CHAPTER IV. 

DiSTAITOB APART m PLANTING 26 

Distance between rows 27 

Currants may be planted 28 

Cropping between the rows 29 

Distance table 30 

CHAPTER V. 

Dwarfs and Standards.— Selecting Trees 31 

One-year-old stock 32 

Tree peddlers 33 

*' High-worked " trees 34 

One thousand Bartletts 35 

Unnatural condition 36 

The bark louse 37 

(y) 



yi CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER VL 

Time of Planting 38 

Spring and fall planting 39 

A strict record ™ 

Sandy soil *1 

CHAPTER VII. 

Planting ^ 

Slit the bark 43 

Each layer of roots 44 

Careless packing 45 

CHAPTER VIII. 

Digging Trees from tub Nursert Row, and Packing 46 

An unfortunate tree ... 47 

Below the roots 50 

Packing trees 51 

Imported trees 53 

CHAPTER IX. 

Varieties to Plant 53 

How to select a few varieties 54 

Choice kinds of pears 55 

A list of varieties 50 

Doyenne Boussock 57 

Beurr6 Clairgeau. 58 

Fine large pears 59 

Amateur's list 60 

CHAPTER X. 

PR0NING 61 

Prune to induce f ruitfulness 63 

The time of budding 63 

An upward and outward growth 64 

Near a wood bud 66 

Too much wood 67 

System of pruning 68 

An unproductive tree 69 

Promote fruitfulness 70 

Summer pruning 73 

Upward and outward 73 

Annual crops "^S 



COXTEJiTTS. Tli 



CHAPTER XL 

Manukinq and MuLCiirsG 73 

Afih of the fruit 77 

Salt and lime mixture 78 

Composting manure 79 

Intelligent pear growers 80 

Liquid manure 81 

Charcoal bottoms 83 

Keep the surface moist 83 

The labor saved 84 



CEArTEK XI [. 

Gathering Fruit 85 

Pears with stems 86 

Fruit room 87 

The proper date of ripening 88 

How to keep pears 89 



CHAPTER XIII. 

Mabketinq Pears 90 

Careless packing 91 

Dishonest dealings 92 

Packing pears for market 93 

Fancy fruit dealer 94 

Sending fruit by railroad • 95 



CHAPTER XIV. 

Profits of Pear Culture 96 

Can pears be grown successfully ? 97 

Educate the taste 98 

New York market 99 

Sales of pears 100 

Prices of pears 101 

Sales of fruit 103 

Marketable fruit 103 

Large profit 104 

Many drawbacks 105 



VUl COITTENTS. 

CHAPTER XV. 

Propagation, BuBDraa aud Grafting 106 

All new varieties 107 

Pack in moist earth 108 

How to fasten a bud 110 

Angers quince Ill 

Worthless varieties 112 

Inserting cions 113 

Grafting wax 115 

Vexatious moments 116 

CHAPTER XVI. 

Practical Suggestions 117 

Field mice 118 

A girdled tree 119 

Keep the bark clean 120 

Potash wash 121 

The blight 123 

Insects 123 

Curculio 124 

CHAPTER XVII. 
Orchard Record 125 



PREFACE. 



*' Pear Culture for Profit " when first issued had a 
hearty and cordial welcome from practical horticul- 
turists in every section of the country. The chief ob- 
ject of the author was to give plain and concise di- 
rections to beginners. These directions were at va- 
riance with many of the theories then in common 
practice, but they were mainly drawn from the 
author's experience. It is gratifying to know that 
there is a steady demand for this little book, and that 
the Publishers feel warranted in issuing a new and re- 
vised edition. 

P. T. QuiNif. 

Newark, N. J., 1883. 



(ix) 



INTKODUCTOEY CHAPTEK. 



Since the first appearance of "Pear Culture for 
Profit," there has been a great change in public 
opinion on many of the main features in the methods 
of growing pears for profit. 

The business has settled down upon a more solid 
basis, and exaggerated statements of large profits on 
small outlays have passed away from the minds of 
those who have followed the business with an intelli- 
gent understanding. Comparatively few varieties have 
been introduced during the last ten years that have 
taken a prominent position among the established 
kinds for orchard culture. Hence the list recommend- 
ed in '* Pear Culture for Profit" is to-day as good and 
as popular as when the book was first published. 

Among the promising sorts now on trial is the 
" Souvenir de Congress" and ** Quinn," and one of the 
most showy and worthless is that over-praised pear 
known as the "Keifer," or ''Keifer's Hybrid." 

The matter of growing pears, either for pleasure or 
profit has, of late years, been divested of many of the 
whimsical fancies and impractical theories which were 
fastened to it for many years during what might be 
termed its infancy in this country. Like all other 
branches of productive industry, time and experience 
are sure cures for many of the wild and unfounded 
statements which find their way into print, and are so 
likely to mislead the novice and to injure the cause of 
(xi) 



Xll INTKODUCTION. 

horticulture. The subject of growing pears as an in- 
vestment for capital, with the object of making 
money — that is, of receiving a fair compensation in 
the way of returns — is the form in which the subject 
presents itself to the minds of those who have been 
close observers of what has been accomplished in pear 
growing during the last dozen or fifteen years. The 
days of wonderful yield of fruit from trees planted 
only three or four years, with fancy prices for every 
specimen, are numbered among the things of the past. 
The subject has been thoroughly divested of all ex- 
traneous matter, and is now, as it ought to have been 
years ago, judged by the rules of common sense. Ex- 
perience, a safe but an expensive teacher, has effec- 
tually cured many of the fallacies which misled almost 
every one who attempted pear growing twenty-five 
years ago. Many of those early beginners have lived 
to see their fond hopes blasted and their anticipated 
profits dwindle down to nothing, with a total loss of 
capital and interest. But now there is no excuse for 
any intelligent person who makes such gross mistakes. 
From year to jenv these errors have become more 
glaring, until at this time he who blunders must be 
blind to the events which have taken place in almost 
every section of this country where pears can be grown. 
Consumers of the fruit have so classified varieties that 
it is no longer a question of doubt which are the most 
popular sorts in market. The question of popularity 
is an important one for those about to embark in the 
business of pear growing for profit. The vigor of 
growth, or the prolific bearing of a variety, is of small 
moment for those who invest money in this branch of 
business. If the sort is not known or popular in 



INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER. xiil 

market, it would be folly to persist in growing it. The 
desire to educate public taste ia the choice of varieties 
is laudable, but it is usually a thankless and unprofit- 
able task. With these few preliminary remarks, the 
point is reached where the question naturally suggests 
itself : 

CAN" PEARS BE GROWN WITH FAIR PROSPECTS OF 
PROFIT ? 

If SO, by what rules should the beginner be governed 
in the start? There seems to be a settled belief (and 
that, too, well-founded), that with a fair knowledge 
of the business, and this knowledge guided by common 
sense, pears can be grown with a flattering prospect of 
getting in due time a handsome return on the outlay. 
In the early stages of the growth of any business, ex- 
travagant methods of preparation are very likely to be 
recommended. This has been strikingly so with pear 
culture in this country, and much has been expended 
on trenching, thoroughly underdraining, and subsoil 
plowing. These, of course, are all very well, and add 
to the productive capacity of the soil. But they are 
very expensive, and in many instances the outlay of 
money is useless. There are some garden spots where 
such improvements may be necessary, but where 
orchard culture is intended, the matter should be 
seriously considered before going to such heavy ex- 
pense as this preparation requires. 

THE SOIL REQUIRED. 

A pampered, rich soil to start with is not essential 
to successful pear growing. Any piece of ground that. 



XIV INTUODLCTORY CHAPTER. 

with good culture and care, will yield sixty to seventy 
bushels of shelled corn to the acre, or one hundred 
and seventy-five bushels of Irish potatoes, will be 
found rich enough for pears. When the trees receive 
the same attention that good farming calls for in 
raising corn or potatoes, they will grow as freely and 
be as responsive as either of the crops named, and 
make all the wood that is desired for their welfare. 

TOO MANY YAEIETIES. 

Another gross and expensive mistake usually made 
by beginners, is that of planting too many varieties. 
This error is one of the most common, and one that 
every one regrets, when time shows, as it surely will, 
its character and cost. In an orchard of, say, five 
hundred trees, there should not be less than one hun- 
dred of each variety, and he who follows this plan 
will have good reason to be thankful when his trees 
come into bearing, provided he selected those sorts 
adapted to his soil and the wants of the consumer. 
It is much easier and more profitable to find market 
for one hundred barrels of any well-known variety, 
than to sell ten barrels each of ten varieties. It is 
well enough for amateurs to test new sorts, but those 
who embark in the business as an investment and 
for profit, should limit their number of varieties to as 
few as possible, not to exceed six in the start. 

DWARF PEAR TREES. 

Another and still more fatal mistake is that of 
planting dwarfs instead of standard trees for orchard 
culture. The very lame and deceptive inducement 



INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER. xy 

that dwarfs bear fruit in two or three years from the 
time of planting, is a seductive one to the unwise, 
and one, that if carried out, is almost certain to result 
in failure. The first important point to be gained in 
starting a young pear orchard is, to secure a strong 
healthy growth of trees, so that when they do begin 
to bear fruit, they will be vigorous enough to carry 
the crop through, without injury or checking the 
growth of wood. It is of vital importance to get 
vigor of growth and surface, before full and paying 
crops of pears can be raised. It is a gross and irre- 
parable error to permit pear trees, which have been 
planted only two or three years, to bear fruit; practi- 
cal growers, who have an eye for profit, will not coun- 
tenance such a suicidal course. When this deceptive 
doctrine of early bearing is taken away from dwarfs, 
nothing else can be said in their favor for orchard 
culture, while there are many good, sound reasons 
why they should not be planted in the orchard. There 
is not a single variety of pear that will not do equally 
as well as a standard, and at the expiration of twelve 
or fifteen years from the time of planting, one good 
standard is worth a dozen of dwarfs. The argument, 
if such it can be termed, that when dwarfs are planted 
deep enough they will in time become standards, is 
answered by saying : why not plant standards to begin 
with, and avoid the risk and uncertainty in getting 
standards in this roundabout way, when there is a 
shorter and more simple course to attain the same 
end ? With twenty years of experience in growing 
pears for market (and in 1881 my crop amounted to 
eighteen hundred bushels), I am firmly convinced that 
if I were about to plant another pear orchard, and 



XVI INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER. 

could get dwarfs for nothing, and liad to pay fifty 
dollars per hundred for standards, 1 would not hesi- 
tate a moment to choose the latter. This conclusion 
has been reached by an extended experience with 
dwarfs on my own place, and confirmed by what I 
have seen in different sections of this country and in 
Europe, wherever pears are grown to any extent out- 
side of the garden. 

I am now convinced that even the "Diichessed' 
Angouleme " will do much better as a standard than 
as a dwarf. This was the only exception I made when 
*'Pear Culture for Profit" was originally published. 

RETARDING. 

Each succeeding years' experience demonstrates be- 
yond doubt (if there was a question of doubt in any 
man's mind), that those who desire to reap the largest 
profits from pear growing, must provide ways and 
means of holding back a portion of their crop of 
Bartletts; in fact of all the varieties. If proof is 
needed on this point, it is only necessary to state as a 
fact that in the middle of September, 1881, Bartlett 
pears of the first quality were selling in open market 
for a dollar a bushel. A month later, from the mid- 
dle to the end of October, Bartletts of the same size 
and quality brought from two and a-half to three dol- 
lars per bushel, and sold faster than before. , This 
year's experience, showing, as it does, the advantages 
of holding Bartletts back until the end of October, 
or early November, is not an isolated instance, and 
those who have practised this plan have been compen^ 
sated in about the same ratio for the past six or eight 



INTRODUCTOllY CHAPTER. xvil 

years. If peaches had been plenty last year, there is 
no doubt that Bartletts would have sold for a song in 
the height of the season. There is no question but 
that the supply is more than the demand required ; 
unless the season of marketing can be lengthened by 
artificial means. The Bartlett is the most popular 
pear grown, but as every practical man knows, it is 
tender, has a short season, and needs very careful 
handling, much more so than any other fall variety 
grown for market. The best and most economical 
method of keeping pears is still a mooted question, 
even among those who have been experimenting for 
the last half dozen years with retarding houses. There 
are, to my own knowledge, a dozen houses of diiferent 
plans in operation for this purpose, and yet no one 
seems entirely satisfied with the keeping qualities of 
houses of either plan. 

Whatever style of retarding house may be con- 
structed to keep Bartletts and other varieties, the 
temperature must be maintained below 37 degrees, in 
order to keep them from ripening. This is one of the 
important facts now regarded as settled. Another is, 
that the fruit must be sound when put in the house, and 
another, that ice is the best medium for keeping the 
temperature down to the conditions named. My own 
retarding house is a wooden structure, with double 
walls and roof, with a space of eighteen inches from 
the outer to the inner walls. This space is packed 
very firmly with fine sawdust. The ice is stored 
above the fruit room, which has a capacity of seven 
hundred bushels. The fruit, which is always hand- 
picked, is put in bushel boxes. These full boxes are 
stored in this cool room, until such time as it is de- 



XVm IHTRODUCTOEY CHAPTER. 

cided to market the pears. They are taken out of 
the ice-house and kept in an ordinary fruit cellar for 
four or live days, before sending them to market. 
When the temperature is kept as stated, below 37 
degrees, there is no difficulty in keeping the fruit in 
perfectly sound condition, as long as it is best to do so. 

PIRE BLIGHT. 

The most disheartening feature of pear growing is 
the destructive ravages of what is called " fire blight." 
The age and vigor of the tree has no effect in warding 
off this dangerous enemy. It comes and destroys 
without warning; the first intimation the owner has, 
is seeing the leaves suddenly turn brown, and the 
next, that a branch, or a half-dozen branches, on the 
same tree, are dead. Up to this time there is no 
remedy against the disease. In my own orchard, the 
blight has had its favorite sorts. The varieties that 
have suffered most from blight are the " Glout Mor- 
ceau," "Vicar of Winkfield," "Flemish Beauty," 
"Beurre Diel," "Belle Lucrative," and "Swan's 
Orange," and in the order named. There has been no 
loss of trees or part of trees in my orchard of " Duch- 
esse d'Angouleme," " Bartlett," " Beurre d'Anjou," 
"Seckel," or "Doyenne Boussock," although I have 
seen some of these attacked in other localities. Some 
ten or twelve years ago I planted, and grafted on 
healthy trees, the Japan Pears, seedlings of the Chi- 
nese Sand Pears. These sorts have all the traits of 
their parent, in vigor of growth and rank foliage, 
which for brilliancy of color in the fall equals the Eed 
Maple; they are, besides, prolific bearers. The fruit 



IKTEODUCTION. XIX 

appeared to be proof against insects, while the growth 
and habits of the trees seemed to defy an attack from 
any source. My plan was to propagate these varieties 
and graft the slower growing sorts on them, and in 
this way get a more vigorous growth of wood, and 
possibly a larger fruit of the sorts like the Seckel. 
Until last year I had no reason to doubt that those 
Japan pears were blight proof. But now I have good 
reason to think differently. The fire blight struck 
these trees last summer, and what is unusual, it de- 
stroyed every branch and twig of several large trees, 
not leaving me a living sprig of wood to propagate 
from. This wholesale destruction of these kinds is 
more curious, because we had only one more instance 
in the orchard during the year, and that was a couple 
of large branches on a ''Swan's Orange" tree in a 
distant part of the orchard. This experience settles 
the question in my own mind that it is folly to assert 
that the Chinese Sand Pear, or seedlings from it, are 
blight-proof, for the instances stated above prove to 
the contrary. 



PEAR CULTIJEE FOE PROFIT. 



CHAPTER I. 

VATJETI-S. 

There are comparatively few varieties tliat are 
suited to all parts of the country, and unnecessary 
expense and disappointment have been incurred from 
the planting of those varieties, which have given en- 
tire satisfaction in one locality, while in other places 
they have failed to give good results. This is owing 
to several causes, and in some instances, is almost 
unaccountable ; but in most cases, the differences of 
climate, exposure and soil, bear a marked eifect on tlie 
quality and productiveness of the tree. The thorough 
preparation of the soil before planting, has a great 
deal to do with the future welfare of the tree. This is 
more especially true of clay soils, retentive of mois- 
ture. Under-draining is necessary in such situations. 



14: A COMPLETE LIST OF KINDS. 

To remedy the injurious effects and prevent a 
continuance of this needless expense to the planter, 
should be sufficient inducements for establishing hor- 
ticultural societies in every town ; these societies to co- 
operate with each other through the medium of Coun- 
ty, State and National Pomological Societies. In this 
way more useful and definite information would soon 
be obtained. The town societies should discuss free- 
ly at their meetings the merits and demerits of the 
different varieties, and their adaptability to certain 
localities. A very complete list of kinds suited to 
particular localities and climates, could soon be ar- 
rived at. This would, in the course of a few years, 
enable parties to make a better selection of fruit, 
and much uncertainty that now exists would be 
avoided. There has been much accomplished by a 
few energetic societies, but there is still a wide field 
for improvement. I am constantly asked : " What 
kinds shall I plant for table use, and what kinds for 
market ? " These are difficult questions to answer, 
when it is well known that we have only a few 
varieties that succeed well in all localities. The 
Bartlett, Duchesse d'Angouleme, Seckel and Yicar 
of Winkfield, with a few others, are favorably known 
in nearly every locality, and do well in most situa- 
tions; but people want a more extended list of 
varieties, and in many cases they have repented of 



CONSULT THE FBUIT MPIKCHANT. 15 

increasing their number beyond six kinds. I can 
speak from experience on this point, and I freely 
confess that my desire to have fifty varieties, instead 
of six, for market purposes, has been a loss to me of 
several thousand dollars. The Flemish Beauty, that 
does so well in many parts of the Eastern States, in 
the clay soils of l^ew Jersey, is unworthy of a place 
among the list for market. The same is true of Eas- 
ter Beurre, Beurr^ Diel, Swan's Orange and Louise 
bonne de Jersey, and a host of other varieties, that 
a few years ago were considered profitable market 
kinds, still I am compelled to abandon their culture, 
owing to their unreliability in the orchard. Again, 
a person, before selecting his list of varieties, should 
consult the fruit merchant, and learn of him "the 
kinds that are in demand. For instance, the Bello 
Lucrative, a variety that I consider second to none, 
in vigor of growth, productiveness and quality of 
fruit, is quite unsaleable in the New York market, 
because it is not known to consumers. For the past 
three years I have sold them for lesa than half what 
Bartletts brought, although in quality the latter are 
much inferior on our soil. 

The horticultural societies throughout the coun- 
try have done and are doing great injustice to the 
public by offering large premiums for the greatest 
number of varieties, and then permitting those to bo 



16 PENN. IIOKTICULTUBAL SOCIETY. 

included which, for years, have been discarded as 
worthless for amateur or market purposes. Persons 
not familiar with the different varieties, seeing these 
on the show-table, are quite as likely to purchase 
them, as they are those which have been fully tested 
and found worthy of cultivation. Why this practice 
of putting poor kinds on the table is permitted to go 
on, year after year, I cannot tell, although every one 
conversant with fruit will admit it is wrong, and 
calculated to lead the public astray in making se- 
lections. For some years the Pennsylvania Horti- 
cultural Society has followed a far better system, in 
the manner of awarding its premiums. At its regular 
exhibitions, premiums are offered for single plates of 
approved kinds, instead of foolishly throwing away 
money, and misleading the public, by offering sums 
for collections. By this simi^le method, practical 
growers are brought into fair competition with other 
growers, and he who is in search of information, can 
get at facts valuable to him as a beginner. I am 
glad that many other societies are adopting this plan, 
and ere long, it is to be hoped, the system will be- 
come general. 



CHAPTER IL 

ASPECT. 

Vaeious opinions are held concerning the most 
appropriate site for a pear orcl.ar:!. Many, believing 
that they avoid the danger of late or Spring frosts 
injuring the blossoms, prefer a northern exposure. 
Others choose a southern or south-western exposure. 
My own o])inion, founded on long experience, is in 
favor of a north-eastern aspect, on rising ground. 
There is but little to be feared from late frost on 
high or rising ground, and it is quite unusual to 
have a severe frost when the pear is in blossom. 

At our farm, near Newark, New Jersey, it has 
only occurred once in fifteen years. On the night 
of the second of May, 1863, a frost destroyed nine- 
tenths of the blossoms, only a few "Winter varieties 
that were not fully open, escaped injury. 

I find that it is a good plan to mulch the ground 
around the body of the pear tree, late in the fall, 
with salt hay, straw, or other litter. It not only 
keeps the frost in later, retarding the buds from swell- 
ing before the weather is settled, but also prevents 



18 SHELTEE AN OKCIIAr.D. 

the rJternatc freezing and thawing, that prove so 
fatal to joung trees in many sections of the West. 
There is no advantage in ripening pears early ; in 
fact, there is a disadvantage, for, if the Bartlett and 
Belle Lucrative are on a southern exposure, they are 
ready for market at a time when peaches and black- 
berries are in abundance, and, as a matter of course, 
they have to be sold at a much lower price than 
when peaches and berries are disappearing. This is 
also true of the Duchesse d'Angoulenic. In the 
early part of October, pears of this variety frequent- 
ly sell from $8 to $12 per barrel, while i:i Novem- 
ber, prices advance, and it is not unusual to get from 
$20 to $30 per barrel for the same quality of fruit. 

To shelter an orchard from the prevailing wind, 
is often more important even than the aspect ; for 
pear trees, especially when heavily laden with fruit 
and exposed to a wind storm, will suifer more injury 
from being shaken, than from an ordinary late frost. 
When the location is selected, if no natural protec- 
tion exists, it is better to plant rows of some rapid 
g»wing evergreens — such as the White Pine, Nor- 
way Spruce, or American Arbor Yitse — every twen- 
tieth row, close enougli to form a complete hedge in 
a few years. This will prove ornamental and useful. 
The evergreens should be planted in lines parallel 
with the pear rows, and they will more than pay for 



A HEDGE OF PEARS. 19 

the ground they occupy in protecting the fruit trees 
from heavy gales. 

To carry out this plan, in a more profitable way, 
I have planted a row of the Beurre d'Amalis pears, 
a strong growing variety, four feet apart, for the pur- 
pose of forming a hedge or screen. It has answered 
a double purpose, yielding a crop of fruit and also 
protecting the trees in the orchard, for some distance 
south-east of it, from the wind storms. I am very 
well pleased with the result so far. The young 
shoots were interlaced each year, and in five years 
from the time of planting, they formed a barrier 
seven feet high, besides giving an average crop of 
fruit for the past three years. 

Another, and an excellent plan for protecting the 
trees in the orchard, is to plant a row of peach trees, 
ten feet apart, in the most exposed part. The peach 
is a rapid grower, and for four or five years will 
serve a good purpose, when they can be removed 
and another row planted in another position. I 
have had enough fruit, in this way, to pay the ex- 
pense of buying the trees and labor incident to 
planting. 



CHAPTEK III. 

PKEPAKATION OF THE SOIL. 

A thorough preparation of the soil before plant- 
ing is positively necessary, to insure success with the 
pear, and until the soil is in a condition to allow the 
" rains and dews to enter, pass through and out of 
it," in as sliort a time as possible, the cultivation of 
fruit cannot be brought to the highest point of profit. 

On claj lands, or sandy soil with a retentive sub- 
soil, under-draining is the lirst step towards accom- 
plishing the right condition. This should be done 
at least a year before the trees are planted. There 
is a prevalent opinion in the minds of many farmers, 
that under-drains are only wanted to carry oiF the 
excess water ; but this is only one of their offices. 
Another, and very important one, is to aerate the 
soil ; in other words, the drains open tlie way for the 
atmosphere to circulate freely through the soil, carry- 
ing with it gases which cause many chemical changes 
to take place that will benefit the growing plants. 
At the present cost of labor and material, under- 
draining will prove to be an expensive operation, but 



LIFTING SUB-SOIL PLOW. 21 

it should be remembered, that when a tree is plant- 
ed, it is not for a crop of one year alone. When the 
soil is properly prepared before the trees are put into 
place, annual crops for a lifetime may be realized 
with little care or expense. For the amateur, or one 
who only plants in his garden enough for family use, 
and who will take pride in having his trees do well 
and bear fine specimens, the preparatory step of 
draining should not be overlooked. 

In case the land selected for the orchard or fruit 
garden is a heavy clay, locate the drains forty feet 
apart and four feet deep, if fall enough can be had 
to carry off the water. If circumstances will admit, 
it is better to have them at least this depth, for if 
shallow, the roots of the trees may penetrate, and very 
soon render them useless. 

In the field, the expense of opening drains may 
be lessened one-third, by loosening the upper two 
feet of earth with the lifting sub-soil plow. This 
may be readily done with a pair of oxen or horses ; 
for the former make a long yoke, so that one of the 
animals can walk on either side of the ditch. When 
the plow has been run three or four times in the 
same line, the loose earth is shoveled out, and the 
operation of the plow repeated in the bottom, until 
its full depth is reached. A few inches more earth 
may be loosened by fastening a heavy weight at the 



22 LAYING TILES. 

end of tlie beam. This will have a tendency to keep 
the point of the plow down, and a greater depth can 
be attained. The lower two feet v/ill have to be re- 
moved by the spade, shovel and pickaxe. The ditch 
should only be opened a sufficient width to permit 
the man to work ; keeping a gradual slope down- 
wards, and at the bottom only wide enough to admit 
the tile. 

Round pipes with collars are preferable, especial- 
ly if the sub-soil is sandy. In localities where these 
cannot be had, the two-inch sole tiles are the second 
best shape for all lateral drains. When the ditch is 
completed, the bottom having the requisite fall to 
carry off the water, commence laying the tiles in the 
upper end of the drain. The joints should be 
brought close together, and it is better to place an 
inverted sod over each joint, or else a small quantity 
of hay or straw twisted. This pr6\'ent8 sand or fine 
silt from entering until the earth above the pipes 
becomes settled. Care should be taken that each tile 
has a firm position, if not, when the earth is placed 
on the top of it, the pipe will tilt to one side or the 
other, and cause a serious break in the drain. The 
tiles should then be covered with earth, at first care- 
fully with a long-handled shovel, so as not to dis- 
place them, and the balance with a plow, road- 
scraper, or anything else that will facilitate the 
operation. 



BASEMENT STOKY. 23 

When the drains are completed, the soil should 
be thoroughly plowed and sub-soiled. It is said 
that the latter operation is a master key to under- 
draining, and there is no doubt, in my mind, of 
the truth of it. The usual method is: first, sur- 
face plow, following in the bottom of the furrow 
with a sub-soil plow, drawn by one or two pairs 
of oxen or hors3s. The former are considered 
best, if the ground is very hard or stony. To 
make the operation very thorough, the field 
should have the same treatment crosswise, and by 
this the whole of the sub-soil will be loosened, so 
that rain and dew can easily percolate to a great 
depth. As a matter of course, this method will, 
with the addition of some fertilizer, render the 
" basement story of the farm " congenial to the roots 
of growing trees. In the garden, the manipulation 
of the surface and sub-soil will have to be done with 
the digging fork and spade, but the space of ground 
sufficient to supply a family with fruit, is so small, 
that the expense of disturbing it to the depth of 
fourteen to eigliteen inches will be only a trifle, con- 
sidering the influence it will have on the growth 
and vigor of the tree. 

A neighbor, who has had considerable experience 
in draining, instead of tiles, makes use of common 
hemlock boards, six inches wide, nailed together in 



24 AiTEKNATE FKEKZING AND THAWING. 

lengths of twelve feet, in the shape of tl>e letter A. 
He finds they are qnite as effective as tiles, and 
more easily placed in the drain. He put some 
down in 1848, and they are at present perfectly 
sound. My practice is to iinder-drain during the 
summer, then fali plow and suh-soil, leaving the 
land in ridges during tlie winter. In the spring, 
when the ground is dry enough to work, surface 
plow, running the lifting sub-soil plow in the bot- 
tom of the furrow. This latter operation, with the 
eflFects on the soil of tlie alternate freezing and 
thawing during the winter months, leaves the soil 
in fine mechanical condition. The land is then 
made ready for a root crop, usually potatoes, which 
are planted in the ordinary way, the rows wide 
enough apart to admit of horse implements. Before 
planting, I apply to the surface broadcast five or six 
hundred pounds cf super-phosphate to the acre, and 
harrow it in, and put wood-ashes into the drill at 
the time of j^lanting. The surface should be kept 
loose and free from weeds, by frequent disturbance 
of the surface soil with the horse-hoe. 

"When the crop is harvested, the land will be in 
excellent condition for setting out trees, which may 
be done in the fall or the following spring, as cir- 
cumstances may dictate. 

Persons desirous of knowing more about under- 



TREES OVER-BEAEING. 25 

draining, are referred to books published on the 
subject. 

On light sandy soils, having an open sub-soil, 
frnit trees will thrive without under-drains, provided 
the land is kept in good " heart," and thoroughly 
worked before planting the trees. Land that will 
produce forty or fifty bushels of shelled corn to the 
acre, prepared in the way described, will give satis- 
factory returns in pears, and produce new Avood 
enough to sustain the tree in a healthy condition. 
When a young pear tree is heavily laden with fruit, 
and has no new wood, it is fair to suppose that the 
tree is not in a healthy state. This is subsequently 
proved by the fact, that this over-bearing has 
brought on premature death. Pear culture is fre- 
quently condemned as being unprofitable, and the 
trees short-lived, when the facts shoM'^ mismanagement 
on the part of the owner in neglecting to provide the 
necessary food, and an entire want of knowledge of 
the principles that should govern the use of the 
pruning knife. 



CHAPTER TV. 

DISTANCE APART IN PLANTING. 

This is an important subject for the person who 
intends to plant fruit trees. Once in place, it is 
very difficult and expensive to remove them, besides, 
there is always some risk in transplanting a large 
tree. When a mistake has been made in the laying 
out of a young orchard, the owner must quietly sub- 
mit to tlie error, and the only satisfaction he can 
have, is to prevent others from making the same 
mistake. 

The distance apart that trees should be planted 
in the orchard, depends somewhat on the mode of 
pruning to be adopted, and the use to be made of 
the ground between the rows. In case the trees are 
trained tall, with spreading tops, the distance, both 
between the rows and the trees in the row, must be 
more than if the conical shape is chosen. 

Standards pruned to make pyramids, may be 
planted as close as 12 by 16 — that is, twelve feet 
apart in the row, and sixteen between the rows. 
With a careful and judicious sj^stem of pruning, 



DISTAJfCE BETWEEN KOWS. 27 

(which will be described under another heading), 
this will be found ample room for standards. We 
have standard trees, set out thirteen years ago, on 
w^ell prepared soil, at these distances, and I am con- 
vinced they have plenty of room for all purposes. 

Dwarfs require less room than standards. Our 
first plantings were set 8 by 21, but we found that 
too great a distance between the rows, and at each 
successive planting we reduced it, until we got down 
to 10 by 10, which, on strong ground, is as close 
together as they ought to be planted. "We have de- 
cided that all our future plantings of dwarfs, shall 
be set at these distances. In pursuing this course, 
every tenth space is left fifteen feet wide. This is 
necessary in an orchard, so as to permit a cart to 
pass between the rows in manuring the trees, gather- 
ing the fruit, «fec., &c. By planting both standards 
and dwarfs according to the following diagram, each 
tree has more room than if placed directly opposite 
the other. 



28 



CUEKANTS MAY BE PLANTED. 



When the trees are planted at these distances, veo-e- 
tables may be grown between the rows for a few 
years, sufficient at least to pay current expenses, 
that is, rent of land, taxes, labor, &c., &c. 

This can readily be done, in locations where land 
is high, without material injury to the trees, pro- 
vided enough manure is applied to perfect the 
growing crop. Potatoes, carrots, beets, onions and 
turnips, are the kinds least likely to harm the trees. 
Strawberries, when permitted to make runners and 
cover the whole surface, arc quite as likely to retard 
the growth of trees as any of the cereals. The latter 
on no account, sliould be sown on a young orchard. 
I know of some instances when two-thirds of the 
trees were stunted by one crop of rye. 

When the location is within a short distance of 
a good market, in tlie vicinity of any of our large 
cities, currants may be planted three and a half feet 
apart, and midway between the pear rows. ^Ye 
have followed this plan for a number of years, and 
have made it pay a handsome profit. When the 
trees attain size enough to require all the ground 
it is an easy task to remove the currant bushes. 
For the last seven years, our currants growino- be- 
tween the pear rows, averaged annually $117 per 
acre net. 

This fruit is becoming more popular every year, 
and in the neighborhood of ^ew York, the demand 



CROPPING BETWEEN THE ROWS. 29 

has been far greater than the supply. This berry- 
may also be made into a jelly, which is always in 
demand. 

I mention these facts, as there are many persons 
planting small lots of pear trees, in locations where 
land is high, and they want something growing 
between the trees that will pay expenses. 

At the end of five or six years from the time of 
planting the trees, cropping between the rows or in 
the orchard should be discontinued. At the expira- 
tion of that time, a cultivator or horse hoe will be 
quite sufficient to disturb the surface two or three 
inches deep. This operation should be repeated 
often enough to keep the soil loose and weeds from 
appearing. Pains should be taken to carry out this 
latter fully, as the weeds are both unsightly and 
unprofitable in an orchard of any kind of fruit. 

If the trees receive the proper care and treat- 
ment, the crop of fruit will be large enough, by the 
sixth and seventh years, to begin paying some of the 
original outlay for trees, and the expenses incurred 
in preparing the soil. 



30 DISTANCE TABLE 



DISTANCE TABLE FOR PLANTING. 
Feet. Feet. Number of trees to an acre. 

10 by 10 ,., 435 

12 " 12 , 302 

12 " 16 226 

15 " 15 193 

18 " 18 134 

20 " 20 108 

25 " 25 69 

40 " 40 27 

I give no figures about the cost of planting au 
acre of pears, because, with the facts set forth in this 
work about the way land should be prepared, any 
person can readily calculate what the outlay will be. 



cnAPTEP. y. 

DWARFS AND STANDARDS. SELECTING TREES. 

After fourteen years of practical experience 
with pears and their culture, having had under my 
charge, part of that time, more than one hundred 
varieties, including all the leading kinds, planted on 
well prepared soil, —I have come to the conclusion, 
contrary to my former views, that with a single ex- 
ception, the culture of the dwarf in the orcliard is a 
failure. This conclusion is not the result of a few 
days' investigation, it has extended over many years. 
As fact after fact presented itself, I was slow to ac- 
cept them as conclusive, until it became so apparent, 
that to hold out any longer would be obstinacy. 
For a long time, I had reason to suppose that the 
Angers quince was well suited as a stock for many 
of our best varieties of pears, but as far as my per- 
sonal observation has gone, the number has dwindled 
down to one variety, that is the Duchesse d'Angou- 
lerae. How long this kind will continue to do well 
on quince root, I am not prepared to say. If it 
should fail, I would feel much discouraged, for I 



32 ONE TEAK OLD STOCK, 

have met with but little success in growing this 
variety as a standard. All other kinds that we liave 
under culture do better as standards. By a simple 
and judicious system of pruning, I find little diffi- 
culty in bringing them into bearing the fourth or 
fifth year from the time of planting. Nor is the 
fruit inferior in quality on our soil, although speci- 
mens of the same variety are frequently larger on 
the dwarf than on the standard. 

The majority of our Duchesse d'Angouleme trees 
have become standards by pushing out roots from 
the pear stocks, but they are more profitable than 
when planted on pear roots. The standard Duchesse, 
or those originally having pear roots, that we have 
in the orchard, are less productive, and the fruit is 
inferior in size and quality. 

For many years during our early experience m 
pear culture, we planted trees in the orchard not 
less than two years old, believing that younger trees 
would not do as well. On this point we have 
changed both opinion and practice, and we now 
select well-grown, one year old stock, in preference 
to all others, for the following reasons : trees of this 
age cost about one-half as much ; when planted in 
the orchard, they will become more uniform in 
shape and size, with less labor ; the purchaser will 
get more roots in comparison with the tops ; and the 



TREE PEDDLEKS. 33 

freight will not average more than one-quarter, for 
one hundred one-year old will not occupy more 
space than twenty-five or thirty two-years old trees. 
Persons who are about purchasing fruit trees 
should in all cases buy of some responsible nursery- 
man, who has his reputation at stake for what he 
sells. It is a well known fact among the trade, that 
a nurseryman who sends out well grown trees, and 
true to name, will build up a larger business in this 
way, than by using freely printer's ink. 

Do not be induced to buy from peddlers, unless 
you are certain they are the authorized agents of 
some well-known nursery. They are, in most cases, 
supplied with exaggerated and extra colored prints 
of different kinds of fruit, to tempt those unac- 
quainted with the original. Many of these persons 
represent themselves as the agents of responsible 
nurseries, with whom, in fact, they have no con- 
pection. It would be to the interest of all to sup- 
press this traffic ; it not only cheats the public, but it 
does great injury to the business. If the nursery is 
not too far distant, it is the best plan to go there in 
person, examine and select what you want. Point 
out a specimen of the size and shape wanted. In 
making such a selection, the price may be a little 
higher, but j^ou can afibrd to pay a few cents 
advance on the regular price for a tree that is well 
3* 



Si " HIGH- WORKED " TREES. 

grown and stocky. It is but a small item, when you 
consider tlie difference it will make in the orchard 
in the course of ten years. In case you decide to 
have part dwarfs, do not buy those that are high 
worked. If buyers were more careful, and refused 
to take trees when the pear bud has been set six oi* 
eight inches above the surface, nurserymen would 
soon abandon this practice, which is now too preva- 
lent. It is less labor to set a bud six inches from 
the ground than two, because the operator does not 
have to lean over so far ; but if those high worked 
trees were unsaleable, proprietors would pay more 
attention to this branch of the business than they 
now do. It is well known to all intelligent fruit 
growers, that in planting dwarf pear trees, the union 
between the pear and quince should be at least four 
inches below the surface. In case this rule is carried 
out with a tree "high worked," say five to eight 
inches above the surface, the roots are buried so 
deeply, as to be out of the reach of the effects of the 
sun's rays, and the free circulation of air ; both of 
which are so important to assist in the healthy 
growth of the young tree. 

For either standards or dwarfs select low trained, 
stocky trees, even if you decide to remove the 
lower branches after they are in place. I have 
found, from experience, that such trees are better 



ONE THOUSAND BAETLETT8. 36 

rooted, and they will, in nine cases out of ten, suc- 
ceed best in the orchard. But strange as it may ap- 
pear, four persons out of six will choose a tall spind- 
ling tree in preference to a stocky one, and, there- 
fore, nurserymen are compelled to train trees to suit 
the market, instead of what their experience and 
judgment would dictate. Some of the practical ones 
do exclaim, when coming into a nursery, "Why 
don't you have those trees more stocky ? They are 
too tall to suit me ! " The simple reason is, nur- 
serymen like other producing agents, will raise what 
their customers want. If it were a matter left to 
their judgment, we should have more well grown 
and healthy pear orchards than are now to be found. 
Trees that have been forced too much in the 
nursery row, as a general thing, do not succeed as 
well as trees grown on land of medium strength. 
As a case in point, we imported from France, six 
years ago, one thousand Bartletts, two years from 
the bud. Everybody who saw them, said they were, 
without doubt, the finest lot they had seen. The 
second year's growth averaged four feet long, and 
the young wood looked as if it might be made into 
serviceable walking canes. These trees were plant- 
ed on a clay soil, well prepared and in good con- 
dition. It would have produced three tons of timo- 
thy hay to the acre, or fifty bushels of shelled corn. 



36 UNNATURAL CONDITION. 

After planting, the trees were cut back and 
great care taken of them. In two years from the 
time of planting, three hundred and twenty-four 
died. The only solution I can give, is, that they 
were stimulated to such an extent in the nursery, 
that when transplanted into an ordinary soil, the 
roots did not supply the amount necessary to keep 
the top in its unnatural condition. On close ex- 
amination of the young wood, I found it to be soft 
and spongy. I have no doubt, that forcing trees 
with putrescent manures is the cause of the numer- 
ous cases from which young trees suiFer for two or 
three years after being set out. I do not mean to 
say you should select stunted trees, but such as have 
a healthy appearance, with a moderate growth of 
young wood, if, on examination, you find it hard to 
the extreme ends of the branches. You will often 
find, on cutting the young wood of trees that have 
been forced too rapidly, a dark brown spot in the 
center or heart of the twig ; this is a sure indication 
of an unnatural growth, and great care will have to 
be given, or many of the trees will not survive more 
than one or two years. The best remedy for this 
is to cut off at least two-thirds of the previous year's 
growth, and mulch the ground for a space of three 
feet around the body of the trees. 

The aphis, or what is commonly called the bark 



THE BARK LOUSE. 37 

louse, often finds its way into the nursery, and unless 
the necessary precaution is taken, it will spread 
rapidly. Purchasers should be careful to give in- 
structions that no trees so affected, should be sent 
to them, for, until these little insects are removed, 
the trees will make but small headway in the joung 
orchard. 



CHAPTER YI. 



TIME OV PLANTING. 



"When the ground has been thoroughly prepared, 
by under-draining, surface and sub-soil plowing, in 
the way described in the former part of this treatise, 
so that the land will not hold stagnant water, pear 
trees may be planted with safety, either in the 
spring or fall, as time and circumstances may permit. 
If everything is in readiness, and it is decided to 
plant in the fall, the trees may be removed from 
the nursery row as soon as the leaves are shed, or the 
leaf-buds fully developed. The labor of planting 
may be continued, if the ground is dry enough to 
work, until severe frost stops the operation. It is 
a very wise plan to mulch trees planted in the fall 
with hay, straw, long manure, or charcoal cinders. 
This light covering of the ground as far as the roots 
extend, prevents the frequent freezings and thaw- 
ings, which often prove so injurious to the roots of 
newly -plan ted trees. 

Some fruit-growers object to fall planting, on 
account of the trees being left so long exposed to the 



SPRING AND FALL PLANTING. 39 

winter and spring winds before growth commences. 
This, of course, would be a serious objection, if ttie 
trees were planted carelessly, and left unprotected 
nntil the following spring. The swaying of the top 
backward and forward would, without doubt, injure 
the roots. But in every case, the trees should be 
carefully planted and pruned, or cut back at once. 
Then there is little to be feared from the injurious 
eifects of the wind, on trees planted in the fall. 

In our pear orchard of several thousand trees, 
about one-half was set out in the fall, and the other 
in the spring, and, except in a few cases, there is little 
noticeable difference. My rule is, to begin work just 
as soon as the ground is in readiness. Five years 
ago, I selected sixty trees, and planted one row 
(thirty) in the fall, the balance in another row, in 
the spring, for the purpose of experimenting and 
convincing myself if there would be any difference 
in the growth of the trees, provided the condition of 
soil and the trees were alike. Since then, both of 
these rows have had the same treatment, receiving 
the same kind and quantity of manure, and being 
pruned at tlie same season. The first season, the 
row planted in the fall was ahead, the young wood 
was stronger and the general appearance better. 
But the second year, the spring row caught up, and 
there is no perceptible difference to-day in the state 



4:0 A STRICT EECOKD. 

of the two rows ; they are as nearly alike as pear 
trees can possibly be. 

This experiment, in connection with some others, 
of which I have kept a strict record, convinced me 
that more depends on the condition of the tree, and 
the thorough preparation of the soil, than on the 
time of planting. 

There is one fact that I have noticed in many 
cases. When trees are planted in the fall, the work 
is performed better, all the rules laid down by practi- 
cal men, who have given written directions on the 
subject, are more fully carried out. This is, proba- 
bly, because persons are not so much hurried with 
other work at this season as in the spring, when 
everything has to be attended to in a short space of 
time. For this reason, I have frequently recom- 
mended fall planting in preference to spring. I 
know how important it is that a pear tree should be 
planted with the greatest care, to insure future 
success. 

Trees may be set out in the spring, as soon as 
the ground is in a condition to be worked, and until 
the leaf-buds are partially unfolded, 1 have fre- 
quently transplanted pear trees when in full leaf 
without tlie loss of a single tree. This can only be 
done by very careful handling, severe pruning, and 
mulching the ground soon after the trees are put 



SANDY SOIL. 41 

into place. Trees should never be planted, either in 
spring or fall, while the ground is wet, for if the 
earth is thrown around the roots in this condition, it 
will form into lumps, and will remain so for years, 
which will interfere with the growth of the young 
roots. This is more especially true of clay soils, or 
sandy soUs with a clay sub soil. 



CHAPTEK YII. 



PLANTENG. 



"When the location of the rows intended for pear 
trees is decided upon, run a large sized sub-soil plow 
a dozen or more times, repeating until the soil two 
or three yards on either side of tlie center line is 
completely pulverized. This operation will leave 
the soil in tine condition for the roots to penetrate 
and lessen the expense of opening the holes, as there 
will be but little left to be done with the spade. 

Yarions opinions are held by growers, concern- 
ing the proper size to which the holes should be 
dug, in putting out trees ; but from my own expe- 
rience, the most satisfactory results have been ob- 
tained when the field or garden has been one large 
hole tilled loosely with fine earth. 

In removing the earth from the holes, keep the 
surface and the sub-soil in separate heaps. When 
the proper depth has been attained, which should 
not be less than two feet, and at least three in diam- 
eter, fill the hole with surface soil to within twelve 
or eio^hteen inches of the surface. Mix with this 



SLIT THE BAKK. 43 

earth finely-ground bones, super-phosphate and wood 
ashes; a small quantity of each will answer the 
purpose, provided the ground is of average quality, 
that is, of sufficient strength to produce forty or fifty 
bushels of shelled corn to the acre. Before putting 
the tree into place, examine the roots carefully, and 
if there are any broken or bruised remove them ; 
using a sharp knife and cutting them from the under 
side. 

All fruit growers are aware of the fact, that pear 
trees in the nursery row throw out stronger branches 
towards the next row than towards the next tree in 
the same row. The future equilibrium of the trees 
will therefore depend in part on the weaker portions 
being preserved as above described. 

Dwarf pears should be placed in the soil, so that 
at least four inches of the pear stalk will be covered ; 
or in other words, the union between the pear and 
the quince should be four inches below the surface. 
This will insure the early bearing of pears worked 
on quince, and the pear stalk will, in the course of a 
few years, push forth roots changing the tree into a 
standard. Some varieties do not readily root from 
their own stock. In such cases I have removed the 
earth from around the body, and with a sharp knife 
slit the bark open lengthwise in three or four difier- 
ent places, and then restored the earth. This is 



44 EACH LATER OF BOOTS. 

almost a sure way of forcing roots from the pear 
above the imion ; and from twenty -five such incis- 
ions that I made three years ago, I found recently, 
on removing the trees, twelve healthy pear roots, 
formed in that time. 

When dwarfs are planted in the way described, 
they will succeed much better than if the union is 
at or above the surface. Standards, or pears worked 
on their own stock, should not be planted more than 
four inches deeper than they stood in the nursery. 
The pear root is more fleshy with less small roots 
than the quince, and therefore great care should be 
taken, both in "lifting" from the nursery row and 
in transplanting. On no account should the roots 
be left exposed, either to the sun or to a strong 
wind. 

When the tree is in place and at the proper 
depth, nil in around the roots with surface soil. 
One man should hold the tree in position, while one 
or more assist in putting the earth around the roots, 
each of which should be drawn out to its full length 
and at right angles with the body of the tree. Too 
much care cannot be given to this branch of the 
work, for it is all important that the roots should be 
surrounded by fine earth and placed in a natural 
position. Each layer of roots should be held up 
until the earth is up to its level, then stretch it out, 



CAKELESS PACKING. 4:5 

and so coutinue till the hole is filled. The tree 
should be gently shaken occasionally, so as to settle 
the soil around the roots. It will be necessary to 
raise a mound of earth around the body of the tree, 
four or five inches above the level of the surface, to 
allow for the settling of the soil. Then press the 
earth firmly around the body of the tree with the 
foot, to give the tree a firm hold. 

Trees that have been out of the ground for a 
long time, and suffered from exposure or careless 
packing, I have frequently saved by immersing the 
roots, for two or three hours before planting, in 
water, to which I have added a small quantity of fine- 
ly powdered bone or super-phosphate of lime. 



CHAPTEE VIII. 

DIGGING TREES FROM THE NURSERY ROW, AND 
PACKING. 

There is no branch of the nurseryman's business 
that requires more care and attention than removing 
young trees from the nursery row. On the judi- 
cious performance of this very delicate operation 
depends to a great extent the future success or fail- 
ure of the pear orchard. From practical experience 
for the past fifteen years in buying fruit trees, I feel 
confident in saying there is less care exercised in this 
department than in any other connected with the 
nursery. As a general rule (of course there are some 
exceptions), the labor of "lifting trees" is performed 
by strength and ignorance. The men who are em- 
ployed for this kind of work care but little if a third 
or even one-half of the roots should be detached 
from the tree by careless and rude means, so long as 
the required number of trees is dug out. The 
method practised in many nurseries is : one man on 
each side of the row of trees with an obedient spade 
in hand, while a third man takes hold of the top of 



AN UNFORTTTNATE TREE. 47 

the tree that is to be removed. This is a signal for 
the men with spades, who push them into the 
ground, face of the tool towards the tree, so, with 
the combined efforts of two men prying and one 
pulling, the unfortunate tree is jerked from its habi- 
tation, leaving, as may be supposed, a large portion 
of the most valuable roots in the soil. In fact, it is 
difficult to be severe enougli against this barbarous 
method, so common in lifting young trees. If the 
soil is a heav;)'^ <^lay, the roots are more broken and 
lacerated than if iu a sandy loam. The clay being 
more compact, the young roots are severed by sud- 
den jerking or rough handling. 

Figures jN^os. 1 and 2 are correct- drawings from 
trees grown in the same row, liaving had the same 
treatment previous to removah Fig. 1 was taken 
from the nursery in the way described above. There 
can be no doubt in the mind of any person exam- 
ining the two, as to which one he would select for 
planting, provided he had the choice, and it is also 
quite certain No. 2 will make the better tree, l)aving 
sufficient roots to furnish the top with food enough 
to keep it in a healthy condition, until more roots 
can be made. But, except under the most favora- 
ble circumstances and with great care, No. 1 will 
not survive one year ; if it does, the tree will merely 
hold on to life. The top of such a tree should be 



50 



BELOW THE BOOTS. 



pruned severely, cutting off two-thirds of the pres- 
ent growth, and then tlie ground should be mulched 
heavily, so as to keep the soil around the roots 
moist. 

In most instances that have come under my ob- 
servation, nurserymen are in fault, in lowering their 
prices in order to draw more custom, and then being 
often compelled to engage ignorant and cheap labor 
to perform the work. 

Tlie strictest care should be exercised in remov- 
ing trees, and price enough be charged, so that pur- 
chasers may get all the roots as well as the tops. 
The men should commence digging one and a half 
to two feet from the tree, opening a trench parallel 
to the row of trees, always keeping the edge of the 
spade towards the body of tlie tree. When the bot- 
tom of the trench is below the roots, a digging fork 
should be used to remove a portion of the ball of 
earth from around the roots. The spades may then 
be pushed under this ball, and by a gentle and con- 
tinuous pulling the tree will readily be lifted with 
all its roots. If the tree is to be transplanted near 
by, the earth may be left on, but if it is going some 
distance from the nursery, the earth must be shaken 
off in such a way that the roots may not be in 
jured. Trees should be placed under cover as soon 
as they are dug out, and the roots protected from 



PACKING TREES. 5 I 

the wind and sun until packed for transportation. 
In a large nursery, it is not an unusual thing to see 
trees left lying on the ground without protection for 
several hours, before being taken to the packing 
house. This should not be permitted, for both wind 
and sun injure the young roots, 

PACKING TREES. 

It is a strange thing, but nevertheless true, that 
nearly all purchasers object to have a charge for 
packing added to their bills. This certainly ought 
not to be the case. The nurseryman sells his trees 
at so much per hundred or thousand, and puts down 
the prices so low that he cannot afford to pay for 
boxes and material, all of which the purchasers get 
and can make use of in some other way. If the 
trees have to go a long distance, it is always safer to 
instruct the nurseryman to use well-made boxes and 
pack a sufficient quantity of moss among the roots 
to keep them moist. For short transportation, the 
iops may be bound in straw to protect them from 
injury, the roots covered with moss, and coarse bag- 
ging carefully fastened on with very strong cord, 
such as is used for baling hay. The nurseryman 
should also be instructed whether to forward the 
packages by railroad, steamboat, or express, also 
naming the line. A neglect in giving these direc- 



52 IMPOKTED TREES. 

tions oftentimes is the cause of much delay and dis- 
appointment. When the trees arrive at their desti- 
nation, the boxes or bundles should be opened at 
once, the trees carefully lifted out, the roots wet, and 
the trees " heeled in," that is, put into a trench two 
feet wide, eighteen inches deep, and any desired 
length. The trees must be placed in this trench in 
an upright position, as closely as they will stand, and 
the fine earth filled in around the roots, covering 
also six or eight inches of the body of the trees. 
They may be left in this way with safety until the 
ground is made ready for planting. If the roots 
look very dry on taking them from the boxes, they 
may be placed in a stream of water for twelve to 
thirty-six hours before planting. I have frequently 
appealed to this practice with imported trees that 
were a long time on their way, and in most cases 
have been successful in saving the life of trees so 
treated. 



CHAPTEE IX. 



VAEIETIES TO PLANT. 



To select the best varieties to plant in the 
orchard is always a puzzling task for the beginner, 
especially if he is in a location where there have 
been few pear trees planted. There are not many 
sorts that do well in all parts of the country ; such 
is the influence of soil and climate on pears, that the 
same varieties often ditter in quality and productive- 
ness in difierent parts of the same State. Persons 
cannot always be guided in making a selection by 
ascertaining the kinds that have been fully tested in 
other parts of the State, unless the soil and climate 
are alike. Even with such varieties as the Bartlett, 
Duchesse d'Angouleme, Seckel and Yicar of "Wink- 
field, which succeed in most localities, I have fre- 
quently witnessed so marked a diiference in their 
appearance and quality, as for a time to doubt 
whether they were not other sorts. The great dif- 
ficulty in making a judicious assortment is, that 
there are too many varieties from which to choose. 

If a person consults books on the subject, or 



54 HOW TO SELECT A FEW VARIETIES. 

nurserymen's catalogues of fruit trees, lie becomes 
bewildered by the multiplicity of sorts minutely de- 
scribed and recommended for cultivation. Then if 
he decides to attend some horticultural exhibition, 
and make the selection from the choice kinds on the 
tables, the same perplexity arises, how to select five 
or ten varieties from these large collections. In 
most cases the specimens on exhibition average one- 
third larger in size than the main crop, in this way 
misleading persons not very familiar with fruits. In 
our own case, if we had confined our selection to 
five good varieties, instead of fifty, w^e should be 
several thousand dollars better off" to-day, and have 
besides a uniformity in the appearance of the trees 
of our first plantings. In another instance that has 
come under my observation, the proprietor of an 
orchard of fifteen hundred trees informed me that it 
had made a difierence in his receipts of three thou- 
sand dollars in ten years. 

At the request of different persons he was per- 
suaded to set out ten trees of one kind, fifteen of 
another, five more of something new and choice, and 
twenty of another sort. So he kept on, until when 
the fifteen hundred trees were in place, he had over 
fifty varieties. As the trees came into bearing, 
many of the sorts proved to be nearly worthless for 
market purposes. Having so many varieties, only a 



CHOICE KINDS OF PEAKS. 55 

few of them were in suflicient quantity to make it 
an object to send them to market. At the expira- 
tion of ten years two-thirds of the original fifteen 
hundred trees had to be re-grafted. 

It is much less trouble and more profitable to 
dispose of one hundred barrels of any one well- 
known variety than to sell ten barrels of ten differ- 
ent varieties. In an orchard of five hundred trees, 
I would not have less than one hundred of the same 
kind. As a matter of course, before deciding, I 
would endeavor to make myself familiar with the 
varieties that wnll most likely do well in the locality. 
In making selections for the orchard, preference 
should always be given to trees whose natural habits 
are vigorous, for strength, combined with product- 
iveness and good quality, and adaptation to soil and 
climate, are the requirements we need. There are 
many choice kinds of pears on our catalogues that 
are rendered unfit for the orchard, by their habit of 
growth being so irregular and uncertain. This 
peculiarity, and an inclination to overbear while 
young, should deter purchasers from planting largely 
of such varieties in the orchard, and therefore in- 
quiry should always be made on these points before 
selecting. It makes little difference to the orchard- 
ist what the quality of the pear may be ; if the tree 
is a poor grower, it becomes an unsightly object in 



56 A LIST OF VAKIETIE8. 

the orchard. I am frequently asked, by persons about 
to engage in pear culture, "What kinds shall I plant 
for market purposes ? " My reply in most cases has 
been : " First, make inquiry of persons living near 
your location, to learn if possible which kinds suc- 
ceed best, and then confine your list to a very lim- 
ited number of varieties." 

I cannot even now make out a list of varieties 
that would be a safe guide to others located in a dif- 
ferent part of the country. There are so many con- 
tingencies, that if I prepared one, it would more 
probably mislead than instruct them. Our expe- 
rience for the past fifteen years in growing pears for 
the New York market, has caused a reduction in our 
list of fifty varieties to the following named sorts, 
all of which succeed well and command the highest 
market prices. 

EAELT. 

Bartlett. Doyenne Boussock. 

FALL. 

Duchesse d'Angouleme. Beurre Clairgeau. Seckel. 

WINTER. 

Beurre d'Anjou. Lawrence. Yicar of Winkfield. 

All of these we plant as standards, except the 
Duchesse d'Angouleme, which we still cultivate on 
quince roots. 

Pears ripening before the Bartlett with us have 



DOYENNE BOUSSOCK. 67 

not been profitable, owing to the fact that they come 
into market at a time when there is an abundance of 
small fruits, and the demand for pears is therefore 
comparatively trifling. Many of our early varieties 
were grafted with later kinds some years ago, and I 
I have no reason to regret having done so. Thus 
far there is no first quality, late winter, market vari- 
ety that I can recommend for the orchard. 

The Bartlett is so well known in every part of 
the country, that it needs no description. It is an 
excellent market variety, when grown as a standard. 

The Doyenne Boussock is not so well known nor 
so extensively cultivated. It is, however, gaining 
favor every year, and with us, it is a profitable vari- 
ety for market. The tree is a very strong grower, 
bears a large showy pear of fair quality, and always 
sells readily at the highest market prices. Its time 
of ripening is the same as the Bartlett. 

The Duchesse d'Angouleme is about as well 
known as the Bartlett, although it is not quite as 
reliable a bearer in all localities. "With us, it is the 
most profitable variety that we cultivate for market. 
Two-thirds of the pear trees in our orchard are 
Duchesse d'Angouleme. It is a vigorous, upright 
grower ; it will succeed best under what is known 
as " high culture." The fruit with us is large, uni- 
form in size, and of good quality. The tree seldom 
3* 



58 BEUKKE CLAIKGEATJ. 

fails to produce a crop of fniit. It ripens in Octo- 
ber and November. 

The Seckel is a recognized favorite throughout 
the country. Its quality is unquestionable. The 
drawback to its culture for market is on account of 
its size and tardiness in coming into bearing. The 
tree must have age before any money can be real- 
ized from the Seckel. A list made up without this 
pear would be incomplete. In setting out an 
orchard, I would have but a comparatively small 
number of Seckels ; in fact, I would much prefer 
grafting large trees of poor kinds with this variety 
than planting stock as it comes from the nursery. 

Beurre Clairgeau is a large and very showy pear, 
commanding a higher market price than any other 
variety ripening at the same time. We are culti- 
vating this variety in the orchard, but I am still un- 
certain whether it will come up to the standard of a 
reliable kind for market. The difficulty is, that in 
certain seasons the tree sheds its leaves during the 
month of August, and the fruit, before gathering 
time, is almost entirely covered with small black 
spots, which make it unsightly. In a few instances, 
I have known the fruit to be cracked. It has not 
done so on our soil. When Duchesse d'Angou- 
lemes are selling for $20, the Clairgeau, well grown 
will bring $30 per barrel. 



FINE LARGE PEARS. 59 

Beurre cl'Anjou may be termed an early winter 
variety, that, like the Doyenne Boussock, is rapidly 
becoming a favorite among fruit growers. It re- 
quires some time for the tree to come into bearing, 
but when it does, it bears regular crops of fine large 
pears, of good quality, that bring high prices in 
market. In our orchard, the tree is a moderate 
grower. It has borne only a few specimens until the 
trees were twelve years old ; since then they have 
become more fruitful each succeeding year. 

The Lawrence is a medium to small variety, the 
fruit maturing about the same time as the Beurre 
d'Anjou. The tree is an irregular grower, sending 
forth branches in every conceivable direction, and 
bearing lightly while it is young. Unlike the Bart- 
lett, it is an excellent keeping variety ; I have fre- 
quently had a Lawrence pear in a good condition to 
be eaten for three weeks. 

The Yicar of Winkfield is in most localities 
very productive, but the fruit is of moderate flavor 
and sometimes astringent. It might be set down as 
good, bad, or indifferent. It is, however, one of our 
best cooking pears. The tree makes a strong, uni- 
form growth, bears early, and, if planted in quantity 
to sell as a cooking pear, it will pay handsomely. 

The Glout Morceau, so strongly recommended 
and so extensively planted a few years ago, is a 



60 amateur's list. 

worthless variety in New Jersey. It is the most 
promising and least productive variety with wliich I 
am familiar. 

We have more trees of the Duchesse d'Angou- 
leme in our orchard, than of any other variety ; next 
in number is the Bartlett. The others are in about 
equal proportion. If confined to plant but two var- 
ieties for profit, I would choose these two named. 
For four varieties, I would add Beurre d'Anjou and 
Yicar of Winkfield ; and for six, I would include 
besides these four, Lawrence and Doyenne Bous- 
sock. 

amateur's list. 
Summer Varieties. 
Bloodgood, Manning's Elizabeth, Dearborn's Seed- 
ling, Doyenne d'Ete, and Rostiezer. 
Fall Varieties. 
Andrews, Bartlett, Belle Lucrative, Doyenne 
Boussock, Duchesse d'Angouleme, Beurre Bosc, 
Seckel, and Sheldon, 

Winter Varieties. 
Beurre d'Anjou, Danas Hovey, Lawrence, Win- 
ter Nelis, and Yicar of Winkfield. 

Erom this list of twenty approved varieties, the 
amateur may select enough to give him fine pears 
for table use from July until March. 



CHAPTER X. 



PRUNING. 



It is admitted by all intelligent fruit growers, 
that on a proper and judicious system of pruning 
depends the success of a young orchard. But there 
are others, who suppose that, when the tree is in 
place, and it has started to grow, care is no longer 
required ; this is not so — if vigorous, fruitful and 
well shaped trees are wanted. The following truth- 
ful statement on the necessity of a system of pruning 
is from that excellent work, " Barry's Fruit Garden." 
" The idea that our bright American sun and clear 
atmosphere render pruning an almost unnecessary 
operation, has not only been inculcated by horti- 
cultural writers, but has been acted upon in practice 
to such an extent, that more than three-fourths of 
all the bearing fruit trees in the country at this 
moment, are either lean, misshaped skeletons, or the 
heads are perfect masses of wood, unable to yield 
more than one bushel in ten of fruit well matured, 
colored and ripened. This is actually the case, in 
what may be called well-managed orchards. Look 



62 PEUNE TO INDUCE FRUrTFULNESS. 

at the difference between the fruit produced on 
young and old trees. The former are open, the 
fruits are exposed to the sun, therefore they are not 
only large and perfect, but their skins are sraootli, 
as though they were polished. This ought to teach 
us something about pruning ; but this is only one 
point. We prune one portion of a tree to reduce 
its size, and to favor the growth of another and 
weaker part. We prune a stem, a branch or a shoot 
to produce ramitication of their parts, and thus 
change and modify the whole form of the tree. We 
prune to induce fruitfulness and to diminish it. We 
prune in growing as well as in dormant seasons ; and 
finally we prune both roots and branches. Thus we 
see tliat pruning is applied to all parts of the trees 
at all seasons, and to produce the most opposite 
results." 

Prom my own experience, and from what I have 
learned of those who have been engaged in growing 
pears on the most approved methods, all appear to 
have come to the conclusion, that the j>yramidal or 
conical is the best form for standard as well as 
dwarf pears, for the following reasons : 

1st. The largest surface is nearest the ground, 
and therefore less likely to suffer from heavy winds. 

2d. The fruit is not injured by falling from the 
tree. 



THE TIME OF BUDDING. ' 63 

3(1. Less surface is shaded with the pyramidal 
tlian with higher and more spreading forms of 
growth. 

itth. The trunk is not exposed to the direct 
rajs of the sun, and consequently the flow of sap is 
not unduly accelerated, as would otherwise be the 
result. 

5th. The fruit spurs are formed on the main 
branches, near the body of the tree, and of course 
more weight of fruit can be sustained with less in- 
jury to the tree. 

6th. Thinning out and gathering the fruit are 
made easier, and consequently they will be more 
likely to be attended to at the proper time. 

Kumerous other advantages might be given, but 
those mentioned afford sufficient argument in favor 
of having the head of the tree as near tlie ground 
as possible. 

One year from the time of budding, the young 
tree consists of a single upright shoot, with the 
largest buds at the top. Whether the tree is re- 
moved from or left in the nursery row another year, 
one-half at least of this growth should be cut off. 
At the close of the second year's growth, the tree 
will consist of a central or main shoot with nu- 
merous side branches. The most vigorous of these 
are near the upper part of the central shoot, while the 



64 AN TJPWAED A2>rD OUTWAED GEOWTH. 

weakest are near the ground. The plan of pruning 
should then be directed to check in degree the up- 
ward flow of sap, so that it may be disseminated in 
the lower branches, strengthening the weak ones, 
and developing the dormant buds. Unless these 
preventive measures are at once taken with trees 
grown so closely together as in the nursery row, the 
buds on many of the lower branches will certainly 
not unfold. When a one or two-years old tree ia 
planted in the garden or orchard, it is a simple and 
easy matter to change the flow of sap from the top 
branches to those nearer the ground. But if neg- 
lected for several years, it becomes a difficult task, 
or the mistake is discovered when it is too late to 
remedy it. 

To prune for a pyramidal tree, each branch 
should be longer than the one immediately above it, 
and the plan of the operator should be to encourage 
an upward and outward growth, and always to leave 
the tree open enough to admit the sun and air, other- 
wise the fruit near the body of the tree will be mis- 
shapen and unmarketable. 

If the grower is very anxious to have regularly 
formed trees, a bud may be inserted, when necessary 
to fill up a vacant space. 

Some varieties, such as tlie Duchesse d'Angou- 
leme, Flemish Beauty, Urbaniste, Sheldon and, Bart- 



a 



GQ NEAR A WOOD BUD. 

lett are inclined to the pyramidal fornri ; tlieir growth 
of wood is uniform and regular, and they will there- 
fore attain the proper shape, with but little trouble, 
unless the young trees were so closely crowded to- 
gether in the nursery, as to interfere with their nat- 
ural habits of growth. In such instances more 
care will be required in planting, and in the first 
and second pruning, so that the new shoots may be 
evenly distributed over the body of the tree. 

There are other kinds, such as the Winter ISTelis, 
Lawrence and Beurre d'Amalis, more difficult to 
manage, owing to their propensity to irregular 
growth. The young shoots on these varieties, are 
pushed forth in every direction, and to make well- 
shapen trees of them, they will require strict atten- 
tion for three or four years from the time of planting. 

For the first named sorts, the cut in trimming 
should be made slanting on the upper side of the 
shoot, near a wood bud ; or in other words, the 
operator should stand facing the tree, cutting from 
the upper side, drawing the knife at an angle tow- 
ards him. The bud in this case must be on the 
under side of the shoot, so positioned that the 
growth from the bud will keep the tree in balance. 
In cutting off branches, the knife should alwaj's be 
very sharp, so that a clean cut may be made, which 
will heal more quickly than if the end of the twig 



TOO MUCH WOOD. 



6T 



is left with a ragged edge. In removing the end of 
the shoot, care should be exercised to cut it so close 
that the growth of the bud may be a continuation 
of the branch. I have sometimes seen the cut made 
BO close to the bud, as to injure it ; and then again if 
too much wood is left above the 
bud, the stump of wood decays and 
makes an unsightly object. Figure 
6 represents the proper way to cut 
off a shoot. If cut as in figure 5, 
tlie wood above the bud will decay, 
and it may reach and injure the 
11 bud. 

For the latter class of trees, the 
cutting will depend on the position 
of the shoots and buds ; but as 
stated before, the growth should be 
encouraged upward and outward. 

If it is necessary to have a shoot 
go straight up, the bud should be 
on the inside of the shoot ; if on the 
contrary, an opposite or side devi- fig. 6. 
ation is wanted, select a bud pointing in either direc- 
tion, and with care, the desired end is sure to be 
accomplished. It may often be requisite to remove 
a large branch in order to make the tree more open 
in the center. When this has to be done, the cut 



68 SYSTEM OF PRUNING. 

should be made close to the body of the tree or to 
the branch from which it forks off. The surface of 
the wound should be made smooth and coated over 
with gum shellac dissolved in alcohol. I have used 
this paste for a number of years, with satisfactory 
results. Owners should not be over-anxious to have 
a large tree in a few years, but rather endeavor, by a 
judicious system of pruning, to get a stocky growth, 
and strengthen the branches near the ground. In 
this way the whole surface of the tree will produce 
alike. By pursuing this course, the buds on the 
lower branches are developed, fruit spurs are formed 
near the trunk of the tree, and by keeping the 
branches far enough apart to admit sun and air 
freely, the fruit will attain full size, and will be less 
likely to be blown off by heavy gales in the fall 
than if on the top of the tree. 

When the tree is in place, from one-half to two- 
thirds of the young shoots should be pruned, leav- 
ing every branch shorter than the one immediately 
under it. By strictly following this method, the up- 
ward tendency of the sap will be in a degree checked, 
and there will be a more even distribution of it 
among the lower limbs. The scripture adage, " train 
up a child in the way he should go, and when he is 
old he will not depart from it," is no less true of a 
fruit tree. It rests solely with the owner, whether 



AN UNPKODUCTIVE TREE. 69 

he will have a well-sbaped and productive tree, or a 
misshapen and unproductive one. If during the 
first summer, one, two or three shoots should be 
making a stronger growth than the others, pinch 
them back with the thumb and finger. Bv giving 
some attention in this way, a more uniform growth 
will be obtained. 

On dwarfs, fruit will frequently set the fourth 
year from the time of budding, but it is very unwise 
to let it remain. The trees should be examined care- 
fully, and every pear removed. By permitting 
young trees to bear fruit, they are so likely to be- 
come stunted, that the owner cannot be urged too 
strongly not to sanction this dangerous practice, now 
so common in almost every 3'oung pear orchard. 
The question is frequently asked, "when should 
pruning be done ? " The most appropriate answer 
to this question is, '"'■prune in winter for wood and 
in summer far fruit J ''^ in other words, to encourage 
the growth of wood, to build up the tree, the gen- 
eral pruning should be done during March and 
April, or not until the continued cold weather has 
past. If young trees are pruned in the early part 
of winter, the ends of the shoots are often so injured 
by severe cold weather, that the first leaf buds are 
killed, leaving short pieces of dead wood to disfigure 
the branches. On our own place, we begin to prune 



70 PROMOTE rRUTTFFLNESS. 

from the 1st to the 15th of March, and go on with 
the work tlirough April. I do not remember a 
single instance, nor can I find one in my note-book, 
where the end of a branch or twig was injured by 
cold weather, when the trees were trimmed after the 
first of March ; neither have I observed any ill ef- 
fects from pruning pear trees in April, although in 
the latter part of the month, if warm weather sets 
in, the buds swell rapidly, and leaves appear before 
the first of May. It is not best to do much cutting, 
except on very young trees, while the foliage is com- 
ing out. 

When the trees are seven or eight feet high, the 
pruning can be done with greater ease and rapidity 
by the use of a trimming shears ; the same as fig. 7. 

The Gardener's Monthly published an essay on 
the "Philosophy of Pruning," read before the Pa. 
Horticultural Society, by Dr. J. A. Warder. After 
some very excellent general directions about the 
management of trees in the nursery rows, so as to 
give them the best form, the Dr. says : " The second 
object of pruning being to promote fruitfulness in 
the treesj it should be done chiefly during the sum- 
mer or during the period of growth. At the same 
time or during the growing season, much may be 
done to advantage ; both in thinning out and short- 
ening in such parts of the tree as need these plans 




FIG. 7. — TBr&TMXNG SHEABS. 



72 SUMMER PKUNING. 

of treatment. Yarious methods are 'pursued to pro- 
duce fruitfulness, all of them depending upon the 
fact that this condition arises from the natural habit 
of the tree, to make its wood growth very freely for 
a series of years, and then while the growth by 
extension is curtailed, to take on that wonderful 
change, by which the wood buds are transformed 
into those that expand into flowers and produce fruit. 
The study of these changes is called Morphology, 
and when the tree has reached this condition it is 
said to have arrived at its maturity." 

To bring about this change, summer pruning 
should be resorted to, if the tree is inclined to make 
a strong growth of young wood. It should be done 
during the growing season, yet late enough that a 
second growth may not start. I have found from 
the 1st to the 20th of July the best time to perform 
this work at Newark, N. J. It is simply removing 
a portion of the present year's growth, cutting or 
pinching off from one-third to one-half of the young 
shoots. 

By changing the course of the flow of sap from 
the extreme ends of the branches, the leaf buds are 
enlarged and changed into fruit spurs. When too 
many young shoots have started, they may be re- 
moved without injury to the tree, in fact, it will be 
an advantage, if they are taken out in July instead 



■CPWAED AND OUTWAED. 73 

of in the following March ; for the amount of food 
neeessarj to bring these useless slioots to maturity 
will then be appropriated bj the remaining branches. 
In summer as well as in winter pruning, the main 
object should never be lost sight of; to encourage 
the growth upward and outward, leaving the tree 
open enough to admit air and light. 

Let me repeat once more, summer pruning must 
be performed with care and judgment. Many va- 
rieties will come into bearing in four or five years 
from the time of planting. On these kinds summer 
pinching is unnecessary, for it should be borne in 
mind that a young tree, to maintain a healthy con- 
dition, must continue to make new wood as well as 
to produce fruit. 

There are many ways of changing trees from 
wood making to fruit making. 1 have pursued a 
simple and easy method thus to alter the habits of 
a tree. During March and April, or July and 
August, on trees not inclined to produce fruit, I 
select some young shoots, in different places on the 
tree, and carefully bend them into the form of rings. 
Fruit spurs, as in fig. 8, will appear on the curved 
portions, certainly within two years. This plan I 
prefer to the one usually practised, of bending and 
tying the end of the long branches to the body of 
the tree. In the former case the fruit spurs will be 
4 




FIG. 8. — FRUIT SPURS. 



ANNUAL CROPS. 75 

formed near the body of the tree, while by the latter 
method the fruit will be on long branches that are 
more likely to be injured by wind storms. 

When the trees attain the proper age to produce 
annual crops of miit, tne wood growth will be 
checked, and excent to remove a branch occasionally, 
there will be little or no pruning required. 



CHAPTER XI. 



MANURING AND MULCHING. 



Theke is probably no part of the care of fruit 
trees less understood, than that of furnishing the 
proper kind of food, and in the right condition to 
be appropriated. 

Young pear trees are often killed by over kind- 
ness, in placing large quantities of unfermented 
manures in the holes before planting, and around 
the bodies of the trees afterwards. It should be 
distinctly understood, that both of these practices 
are likely to prove injurious to the welfare and 
healthfulness of the trees. It is now admitted that 
unfermented manure of any kind should not be 
placed near the roots of a young tree. 

The following analysis, by Dr. Emmons, of the 
wood of the pear tree, shows that potash, lime, and 
phosphate of lime, are the three leading constituents: 

SAPWOOD. BARK. 

Potash, 22.25 6.20 

Soda, 1.84 

Chlorine, 0.31 1.70 



ASH OF THE FRUIT, 77 

SAPWOOD. BAKK. 

Sulphuric Acid, 0.50 1.80 

Phosphate of lime, 27 . 22 6 . 50 

Phosphate of peroxide of iron, 0.31 

Carbonic Acid, 27.69 37.39 

Lime, 12 . 64 30 . 36 

Magnesia, 3 . 00 9 .40 

Silex, 0.30 0.40 

Organic matter, 4 . 02 4 . 20 

By the analysis of the ash of the fruit, 100 lbs. 
of fruit will give forty-three hundredths of one per 
cent, of residue. 

The analysis is by Richardson : 

ASH OF THE FEUIT. 

Potash, 54.69 

Soda, 8.32 

Lime, 7.98 

Magnesia, 5 . 22 

Sulphuric Acid, 5 . 69 

Silicic Acid, 1 .49 

Phosphoric Acid, 1 i . 28 

Phosphate of Iron, 1 . 96 

By an examination of the above figures the care- 
ful cultivator will see the necessity of preparing 
some special manure for his orchard, in order to 



'i? SALT AND LIME MIXTURE. 

keep the trees in a healthy condition. The ordinary 
method of manuring does not supply the tree lead- 
ing constituents in sufficient quantity to meet the 
requirements of the growing trees. Unless these 
substances are added in some form, the fruit trees 
cannot succeed. 

Barn-yard manure, composted with muck and 
the salt and lime mixture, and thoroughly decom- 
posed, is in a condition to be made available imme- 
diately, and it will give general satisfaction in pro- 
ducing both fruit and wood. This compost can be 
made much more valuable by adding, occasionally, 
small quantities of finely ground bones and wood 
ashes to the heap. Barn-yard maum-e should always 
be decomposed before it is placed near the roots of 
young trees. At the farm of the late Prof. Mapes, 
the following system of manuring pear trees has 
been adopted. After many years of careful experi- 
ments on an orchard of between three and four 
thousand trees, I am more thoroughly convinced 
that the conclusions arrived at by the lamented Pro- 
fessor are correct. By practising his method of 
treatment, the most gratifying success has been ob- 
tained, — fine healthy trees and abundant crops. 
The mode adopted is to apply super-phosphate of 
lime, at the rate of from 400 to 600 lbs. to the acre, 
mixed with twice its bulk of earth, and spread 



COMPOSTING MANURE. 79 

broadcast over the surface. This top dressing is mixed 
with surface soil by the use of a horse hoe or small 
plow. The manure is thrown over all the surface 
between the trees, and not, as I have frequently no- 
ticed in different orchards, close to the body of each 
tree. 

The orchardist should have, at all times, in some 
convenient spot near his fruit trees, a compost heap. 
If it is made up of barn-yard manure and old sods 
or head lands, the longer it is kept in the heap the 
more thorough will be the decomposition, and, as a 
matter of course, the manure will be in a better 
condition for appropriation. If swamp muck is ac- 
cessible, and it can be purchased at one dollar for a 
two-horse load, it will pay to cart and compost it in 
the following way : the muck should be tlirown up 
in ridges for some months before hauling to the yard 
or other convenient spot for composting. With every 
cord of muck, mix four bushels of salt and lime 
mixture, and then to every nine cords of this mixture 
add one of barn yard manure. The whole should 
be well worked together, and put in a square heap 
until thoroughly decomposed. The mass may be 
turned over once every three months, and at each of 
these turnings, small quantities of super-phosphate 
of lime, ground bone and wood ashes should be 
added in such a way that they may be evenly dis- 



80 INTELLIGENT PEAR GROWERS. 

tributed throughout the entire heap. Such a com- 
post should not be used until the end of the second 
year from the time of making. By that time the 
mass will be homogeneous, and have the appearance 
of spoiled cheese. If intended for ground not yet 
planted with fruit trees, it may be applied in con- 
venient sized heaps on the surface at the rate of 
fifteen to twenty two-horse loads to the acre. Know- 
ing the condition of the land, the owner can soon 
decide the quantity necessary. The heaps are then 
to be scattered evenly over the surface and plowed 
under. There are many intelligent pear growers, 
who merely apply the manure, and leave it on the 
surface, believing surface manuring to be the best 
method of application. With us it has not proved 
so, although we have instituted numerous experi- 
ments for the purpose of ascertaining the facts. In 
nearly every instance, the results have been in favor 
of turning under the manure, with the exception of 
the lime and ashes. Our experiments were not con- 
fined to a single crop, but were tried with nearly all 
our cultivated vegetables, and, as I mentioned above, 
the largest returns were from those portions of the 
ground where the manure had been plowed under. 

During March and April, the compost may be 
scattered on the surface between the rows of trees, 
and when the soil is in a condition to be worked, in- 



LIQUID MANURE, 



81 



corporated with the surface soil with a horse culti- 
vator or by means of shallow ploughing. It is too 
often the case, that the manure is shoveled close 
around the body of tlie tree. It will take a long 
time before it can be of any use in furnishing the 
tree with nourishment, on account of its distance 
from the rootlets through which the tree takes up 
its food. It should always be borne in mind that, at 
the end of five or six years from the time of plant- 
ing, the roots will extend several feet from the body 
of the trees, and if they have been set out 12x15, 
manure spread anywhere on the surface will come 
in contact with the roots. If profit is a matter of 
consideration, then keep the land in good " heart " 
by annual dressings of manure, and tlie outlay will 
be returned ten fold. I have in numerous instances, 
to single specimens at a time, applied the manure in 
a liquid form ; and, when care is taken, I have not 
the least doubt of it being the most economical and 
best way. I know of one or two cases, where young 
trees have been injured by the application of large 
quantities of liquid manure from the barn yard. It 
should always be diluted with four or five times its 
bulk of rain water, then it may be given in moderate 
doses once at week until the first of August. If 
the applications are made much later than this date, 

the young wood will be succulent and liable to be 
4* 



82 CHAKCOAL BOTTOMS. 

killed during the winter. Where this method is to 
he practiced, I would advise that the ground, for 
three or four feet around the body of the trees, 
should be mulched with hay, straw or other litter. 
This will prevent the ground from baking and form- 
ing a crust on the surface, besides it will keep the 
surface at an even temperature during the growing 
months. 

MULCHING. 

In any part of the country where charcoal dust, 
from locomotives or old charcoal bottoms, can be 
procured easily, there is no substance that will make 
a better mulch for pear trees. It is a good absorbent, 
darkens the soil, and it will retain ammonia and 
other gases that assist in the healthy growth of all 
plants. We used this article for mulching for many 
years, and only stopped because the source of our 
supply was cut off. 

When the surface of the ground, as far as the 
roots of young trees extend, is covered by a mulch- 
ing of some material, one-half an inch in thickness, 
the effect on the trees is equal to a partial manuring. 
This may readily be accounted for. In the first 
place, the heavy rain does not compact the surface, 
but it gradually filters through the mulch ; and 
secondly, the surface soil is moist at all times during 



KEEP THE SURFACE MOIST. 83 

the summer months. I find in our orchard, that 
when the ground around the trees has been well 
mulched, not only the growth of wood is more uni- 
form but the fruit is larger. This, too, on pear trees 
otherwise receiving the same treatment. I was so 
convinced of this fact, that for the past four years, 
one part of the pear orchard has l^een kept covered 
with hay the whole year, except when removed to 
apply the spring dressing of manure. 

"We always procure an abundance of ''salt grass" 
from the low meadows lying within one mile of 
our place. This we find an excellent substance for 
mulching the pear orchard. During the winter the 
Lay is carted home and left in heaps in convenient 
places until summer, when it is spread over the 
ground, about half an inch in thickness. This serves 
a three-fold purpose ; it prevents the weeds from 
growing, and, as stated before, keeps the surface 
moist. Another advantage is, the pears that drop 
or are blown off* by heavy winds in the fall, are not 
bruised and rendered unsalable, as they would be, 
falling on ground without a mulch, especially if the 
land is stony. It is a wise course to follow under all 
circumstances, when material can be obtained. It 
will require about four or five tons to the acre the 
first year ; each succeeding year, half that quantity 
will be enougli, as from one-third to one-half of the 



84 THE LABOR SAVED. 

old mulch can be again used. The amount saved 
in the labor of keeping the ground clean, will, in 
many cases, pay for the mulching material after the 
first year's outlay, and a much less quantity of ma- 
nure will be necessary to keep the trees in a healthy 
condition. 



CHAPTER Xn. 



GATHERING FRUIT. 



This operation should be performed witli care, 
but not until the seeds have changed from a white 
to a brown color, and then by raising the pear in the 
hand if it separates easily at the end of the stern. 
The fruit spurs or buds of the pear, being already 
developed for the next season, if the operator is not 
very careful while gathering the fruit, many of these 
spurs will be broken off and the crop of the follow- 
ing year will be thereby lessened. 

The whole of the fruit should not be removed at 
one picking, for it seldom happens that it is all 
equally far advanced. There is generally a differ- 
ence of ten or twelve days in the time of maturing 
even on the same tree. 

Our method is to go over the orchard three or 
four different times, taking off only those specimens 
that are in condition to be placed in the fruit room 
or closet. With a little practice, the eye, at once, 
detects the pears that are ripe enough to gather. 

Pears will always sell more readily and bring 



86 PEAKS WITH STEMS. 

Ligher prices with stems than without them. There- 
fore, in gathering or handling fruit, this fact should 
be taken into consideration. 

Fruit, as fast as gathered from the tree, should 
be placed ip baskets by hand. If roughly handled, 
the fruit is bruised, and the bruised parts will rot 
iustead of ripening ; this, as a matter of course, will 
materially injure the sale as well as the quality of 
the pears. If the fruit is to be sold, it should be 
assorted at the time of gathenng — the large, me- 
dium, and small sized should be placed by them- 
selves, and immediately removed to the fruit room 
or detention house ; the latter sliould be dry and of 
even temperature, not more than fifteen degrees 
above the freezing point. Such a room may be ar- 
ranged in the second story of an ice-house, with 
double doors, windows, sides and roof, the space be- 
tween need not be tilled with charcoal, spent tan, or 
other materials, for if the parts are tight, it will be 
found that a space of confined air is the best non- 
conductor. 

Fruit taken off in the way described, will not 
shrink by the after evaporation of its moisture. ]S^or 
s'lould it be left on the tree sufiiciently long to per- 
mit any of the chemical changes constituting the 
ripening process, that do not require assistance from 
the functions of the tree itself. Most fruit when 



FRUIT ROOM. 87 

ripened in a fruit room is more beautiful in color, 
has a iiner aroma, and is much richer in flavor than 
if ripened on the tree. 

When the skin of the pear ceases in degree (as 
it does in the fruit room) to exercise those powers 
which it possessed while growing, it becomes imper- 
vious, and all the sugar formed and the flavor de- 
veloped are retained. It is for this reason that pears 
ripened off the tree are so superior to those which 
are allowed to come to maturity on the tree. 

The difference between a detention room and aft 
ordinary fruit room should be distinctly understood. 
As each kind of pear is superior in quality, when 
ripened at its own particular date, pears that are 
best in flavor and quality in January, should not be 
ripened in December. An increased temperature 
will cause them to ripen any time after gathering. 
The detention room prevents premature ripening, 
and the fruit for market may be kept until such time 
as high prices may be realized. When the propri- 
etor has no such room to keep back his pears, they 
must be marketed soon after gathering. There are 
so many fruit growers in this position, that every 
season there is a period with each leading variety, 
when it becomes a " drug in the market." This is 
especially true of the Bartlett and the Duchesse 
d'Angouleme. Prices accordingly fall, at times when 



88 THE PROPER DATE OF RIPENING. 

the market is overstocked for a few days, and Bart- 
letts are frequently sold from $6 to $9 per barrel ; al» 
though two weeks later, the same variety and quality 
of fruit will bring readily from $16 to $20 per bar- 
rel. Pear growers with a limited amount of capi- 
tal can easily construct a room on top or on one side 
of an ice-house, and keep back a portion of their 
crop. In this way the fruit will soon repay the out- 
lay for the room. As to the part intended for family 
use : — when the proper date of ripening occurs, 
move such as it is desirable to ripen and place them 
in a warm room. The temperature of this apart- 
ment may be regulated as desired, the higher the 
temperature, the sooner will the fruit ripen. With 
most varieties the slow process gives the best results. 
In the detention house, as well as in the fruit room 
or cellar, the light should be entirely excluded from 
the fruit, for on tliis precaution depend the color, 
firmness, and in part the flavor. A friend told me a 
few days ago, that he has kept his winter varieties 
with but little trouble in the following manner: 
The pears are carefully gathered from the trees by 
hand, placed in baskets, and taken to his cellar. He 
then packs them in barrels or boxes, with alternate 
layers of dry oat chaff, until the barrel or box is 
tilled. The head or cover is put on and left in this 
way for about three weeks, when the pears are care- 



HOW TO KEEP PEAES. 89 

fully taken out and the chaff exposed on a cold, dry 
night. Early the next m >rnmg the fruit and cold 
chaff are replaced in the barrel and put away in the 
cellar until it is time to make use of the pears. The 
fruit may be kept much later than its proper date of 
ripening by exposing the chaff three or four times 
during the winter to a severe frost. 

Buckwheat or rye chaff will answer equally well 
for this purpose. It is neither necessary nor judi- 
cious to surround the fruit with cotton, charcoal, 
sand, or other material. With such treatment pears 
lose their flavor, and become comparatively valueless ; 
even unsized or absorbent paper will in a measure 
have the same injurious effect upon them. 



CHAPTER XIII. 



MAEKETING PEAKS. 



There are many practical horticulturists who 
thoroughly understand the details of growing fruit 
but they do not fully appreciate the importance of 
sending pears to market in clean, new barrels or 
boxes, and in such a manner that they may surely 
arrive at their destination in good order. 

It is a painful fact to record, that the majority of 
the fruit sent to the New York market arrives in 
bad order, and, in most cases, it is the fault of the 
grower. One of the partners of a large fruit and 
commission house, recently informed me that at 
least three-quarters of the pears consigned to their 
house, arrived in a damaged condition ; and, as a 
matter of course, such fruit has to be sold for much 
less than if some care is taken in selecting the bar- 
rels, and in assorting and packing in such a way 
that the pears are not injured by being shaken about 
on the way to market. 

Fruit does not differ from other articles of mer- 
chandise, its good appearance goes a great way, and 



CARELESS PACKING. 91 

"covers a multitude of sins." Choice specimens 
should not be placed on the top of the barrel ; for 
purchasers usually " empty packages," and if the 
fruit grows smaller in size and inferior in quality as 
the bottom is neared, every one knows to what de- 
cision the buyer will come. That brand will not be 
sought for by the same party the second time. On 
the contrary, if the fruit is uniform in size through- 
out the barrel, not only is the same brand bought 
again, but it becomes known in the market ; it will 
always command the highest price, and will sell 
readily, when the same kind of fruit carelessly 
packed, is comparatively worthless. 

It is not an unusual sight to witness in the Kew 
York market a barrel containing four or five differ- 
ent varieties of pears, about as salable as '' Mrs. 
Toodles' Wheelbarrows,^^ Large and small varieties, 
fall and winter kinds, some with and others without 
stems, evidently thrown into the barrel from a bush- 
el basket, in the same rough way as is customary in 
barreling potatoes or corn. The greater part of the 
fruit packed in this way will rot before ripening, a 
fact well known by all fruit dealers, and it must be 
sold for anything offered, rather than have a total 
loss. 

Specimens of such fruit and packing can, at 
almost any time, be seen in passing through the fruit 



92 DISHONEST DEALINGS. 

market. I have frequently taken from the same 
package, from three to six different varieties of 
pears. 

Fruit dealers or commission men are often ac- 
cused of dishonest dealings, when the prices antici- 
pated by the consignor have not been realized ; but 
on examining a number of such cases, to which my 
attention had been called, I found that the fruit was 
carelessly packed and not sorted. 

To give some idea of how little demand there is 
in market for badly packed fruit, I will relate an in- 
cident, that came under my observation, a few years 
ago. Wliile talking with a fruit dealer, he called 
my attention to a barrel of Duchesse d'Angouleme 
pears, which 1 noticed contained some fine specimens, 
but the majority were very poor. He said : " I have 
offered that barrel for $5, and even at that low price 
no one feels inclined to buy it." I suggested to him 
to empty the barrel and sort the fruit, which he did, 
and, while I was standing there, he sold a single 
basket taken from the barrel for five dollars. This 
may illustrate to people not familiar with the sale of 
fine fruit, the utter folly of sending to market pears 
not carefully sorted and packed. 

On one occasion, during our early experience in 
marketing pears, we sent to a commission house, 
two barrels of very choice Duchesse d'Angouleme, 



PACKING PEARS FOR MARKET. 93 

packed in the ordinary way. I was at the store 
when they arrived. On opening the barrels, the 
fruit had settled, and it did not look as well as I 
expected. The commission merchant told his man 
to repack one of the barrels for my benefit, and re- 
quested me to wait and witness the result. In fif- 
teen minutes both barrels were exposed for sale. 
Soon a buyer was on hand ; the repacked barrel sold 
readily for fifteen dollars, while the same person re- 
fused to take the other barrel for ten dollars, although 
in quality and quantity they were alike. 

This single instance taught me a valuable lesson 
about packing pears for market. 

In every case, no matter how small the quantity 
of fruit to be sold, pack in clean, sound barrels or 
boxes. It is certainly poor economy to save ten 
cents in buying a second-hand flour barrel, when you 
are sure to lose more than five times that amount on 
the price of the fruit, by having it packed in a soiled 
barrel instead of a new one. 

When the fruit attains the proper stage of ripe- 
ness for shipping, pick the pears by hand and put 
them into baskets. Then take a barrel, turn it up- 
side down, and remove the bottom by driving off the 
hoops. Place some cheap white paper inside over 
the lid and around the sides, — fruit looks better 
when tlie barrel is thus lined. The pears are then 



94 FANCY FRmX DEALER. 

laid on their sides closely together, until the top of 
the barrel is covered. A. second layer is added, in 
the same way as the first. Continue in this way 
until the barrel is one-third full ; then shake gently 
so that the fruit will settle w^ithout being bruised. 
This shaking should be repeated several times until 
the barrel is full, when the pears should be in such 
a position that the bottom of the barrel, when 
pressed in, may come in direct contact with the last 
layer. The hoops should then be put on, and four 
small nails driven through them, to keep them and 
the bottom in place. The barrel may be marked 1, 
2 or 3, so that the consignee may know the quality 
of the fruit without opening each package, although 
he should always be advised by mail of the number 
of packages and the quality of the fruit shipped. 

We send the larger part of our pear crop to mar- 
ket, packed in new half-barrels, and, as a general 
rule, it commands a higher price in these packages, 
especially if the fruit is very choice. 

The retailer, fancy fruit-dealer, and hotel keeper 
buy these packages in preference to the larger ones. 
If half-barrels are used, pack the fruit in the same 
manner as in barrels. 

When the cover is taken off from pears packed 
in this way, each pear lies close in position, the ap- 
pearance presented is inviting to the purchaser, and 



SENDING FEUIT BY RAILROAD. 95 

the highest market price can be readily obtained for 
them. It reqnires only a little practice to become 
quite expert in packing fruit in the way described. 
When baskets are used, they should be lined with 
white paper, and the pears laid in carefully. Shake 
the basket gently, occasionally, so that the fruit may 
settle, and till the basket a little above the rim, then 
put on the covers and forward the fruit with as 
much care as possible to its destination. 

It is not desirable, however, to send fruit to mar- 
ket in small baskets, unless the grower delivers his 
own fruit to the dealer. In sending baskets by rail- 
road or steamboat, the fruit will be stolen from tho, 
baskets, and it is a difficult undertaking to get re- 
dress from such corporations for losses of fruit. 



CHAPTER XIV. 

PROFITS OF PEAE CTLTUEE. 

Doubtless, many persons fond, of horticultural 
pursuits, would have turned their attention, to and 
invested capital in, pear culture, if it had not been 
for the bugbear that has been trumpeted through 
diiferent channels for years — "that in a short time 
there will be so many pears in market, you cannot 
give them away." This we have heard frequently 
for the past fifteen years ; but the demand for fine 
fruit and the prices obtained have steadily advanced. 

That there have been failures no one Avill deny, 
and I have no doubt, if we had a true record of all 
who have planted pear orchards, there would be 
summed up three failures to every success. Tliis is 
the case, to the extent of my own observations, 
among pear growers. The trouble is not, that the 
market is overstocked with well grown pears, — on 
the contrary, tlie demand is more than the supply. 
But there are too many persons who can echo the 
cry of the grower, who said to me a short time ago — 
" What diiference does it make to me what prices 



CAIT PEARS BE GKOWN SUCCESSFULLY. 97 

choice fruits are selling for, when I have none to 
dispose of. My trees are dying instead of bearing." 

This is the case with many orchards that were 
planted ten or fifteen years ago, before many fruit 
culturists were aware of the fact, that all varieties 
will not succeed equally well in the same locality, 
but that soil and climate exert an important in- 
fluence on the vigor of the tree as well as on the 
quality of the fruit. On our place, the Dnchesse 
d'Angouleme is one of our leading kinds. It has 
only failed to produce a fair crop, three times in 
fourteen years. In many other localities, this tree 
grows well, blossoms freely, but it does not set its 
fruit, and it has the reputation of being a very un- 
certain variety. Then, as I have said before, the 
quality of fruit grown in different localities, differs 
very much. On the clay soil of New Jersey the 
fruit of the Duchesse d'Angouleme is first quality, 
while in many parts of Long Island and of West 
Chester Co., New York, the quality is quite indif- 
ferent. 

In a former chapter, I endeavored to point out 
some of the causes why so many fail in their at- 
tempts to grow pears with profit for market. 

There is no doubt but pears can be grown suc- 
cessfully and made highly remunerative, provided 
the necessary conditions are complied with. There 
5 



98 EDUCATE THE TASTE. 

are greater inducements offered to the producer now 
than ten years ago. The average prices are higher 
and tlie demand still exceeds the supply. Once or 
twice within a period of twelve years, pears have 
been sold very low, and although, at the time, quite 
discouraging to the producer, still such incidents, to 
use a common phrase, pay well in the long run. 
When choice fruit is plenty and cheap enough to be 
bought freely by all, the taste is educated, and in 
after years, this aquired taste has to be satisfied, 
even at higher prices. Fine fruit, especially pears, 
wlien sold from $1G to $30 per barrel are a luxury 
that can only be indulged in by the wealthier classes. 
But, like the small fruits, pears will eventually find 
their way to the homes of the working classes. If 
the time should ever come that one-half of the 
amount now spent for alcoholic decoctions, should 
go for choice fruit, what a difference there w^ould be 
in the homes of many of our poorer classes, now 
rendered almost desolate by the use of intoxicating 
drinks. 

As a nation we should use more fruit and less 
animal food. Judging from the rapid increase in 
the consumption of small fruits within a compara- 
tively short time, there is no doubt but the demand 
for pears will steadily keep pace with the supply, 
and no reason to fear that the markets will be over- 



NEW YORK MAKKET, 99 

stocked. If occasionally prices range low, or re- 
ceipts from the sale of fruits are lessened by some 
exceptional cause, we should not feel discouraged, — 
similar occurrences happen in all branches of trade. 
There are but few merchants or manufacturers who 
have not been compelled, at times, to sell their goods 
below the actual cost. This does not dampen their 
enthusiasm, it rather stimulates their efforts to make 
up for bad seasons. 

The subjoined list of the prices per barrel, for 
which pears were sold in the New York market in 
1866, '67, '68, I obtained from a responsible fruit 
merchant, who kindly placed his sales books within 
my reach ; thus enabling me to get accurate data on 
this important point. These figures also show the 
comparative market value of the leading varieties of 
pears for the last three years. It will be observed 
that the prices for 1868 averaged higher than the 
two preceding years. This was, in a measure, owing 
to a partial failure, both of the peach and pear 
crops, last season, in the Eastern States. Where 
there are three prices par barrel, opposite one variety, 
such as $10 to $16 and $25, the first two apply 
to the main crop, and the third, to choice fruit of 
extra size, or else to a portion held back, until the 
chief supply was out of market. 



100 SALES OF PEAKS. 

In looking over the sales of pears in the New 
York market, I find the prices for summer varieties, 
are affected bj the peach crop, ranging lower when 
peaches are abundant, than they do, if peaches are 
scarce and high. This of course will not influence 
fall pears, and there is consequently less fluctuation 
in the prices of the later varieties. 

The accompanying list (page 101) fully demon- 
strates to the fruit grower this important fact, that 
the varieties most extensively cultivated have stead- 
ily advanced in price. In 1858 we sold Duchesse 
for $1.50 per basket, or $7.50 per barrel. Last year 
we sold them at $6 per basket, or $30 per barrel. In 
1867 the same quality of fruit sold readil}^ at $20 per 
barrel. That year the crop was an average one, ex- 
cept in a few localities. 

When a young orchard comes into bearing — say 
five years from the time of planting — the trees will 
produce from $50 to $75 per acre. The trees at this 
stage require strict attention ; some may be inclined 
to overbear, others to make too much wood. From 
the former, a part of the fruit set should be removed 
before it attains the size of a walnut. If too much 
fruit is permitted to remain on young trees, it will 
take several years of careful management to repair 
the damage done. "When they are making too much 
wood, and they are not inclined to produce fruit, a 



PRICES OF PEAKS. 



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OS 

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to 









102 SALES OF FKUIT. 

judicious method of summer pruning (described on 
another page) should be instituted to change the 
habits of the trees. 

When the trees are ten years old the receipts 
should not be less than $400 per acre, and there will 
be a steady increase in the returns, under proper 
management, until the trees have been planted fifteen 
or sixteen years, when the receipts will be at least 
from $G00 to $800 per acre, and in many cases much 
larger. When choice pears command from $10 to 
$30 per barrel, as they have for the past three or 
four years, and this with a brisk market, it affords 
encouragement enough to induce horticulturists to 
make every effort to produce the best specimens of 
the varieties that the market demands. 

To give an account of the sales of fruit from our 
entire orchard would be unsatisfactory, on account 
of the difference in age of the trees, varying, as they 
do, from two to seventeen years. 

Ten years ago I selected a single row of thirty 
Duchesse d'Angouleme trees, yjlanted ten feet apart 
in the row. Since then I have kept an accurate ac- 
count of the total sales of pears from these thirty 
trees. Tliey are now eighteen years old, and they 
have produced seven crops in nine years. The trees 
are at present looking very well, and, if we can judge 
from appearances, they will continue to be produc- 



MARKETAELE FRUIT. 



103 



tive for many years. They were originally dwarfs, 
but I am quite confident they are now standards. 
This is true of the majority of the Duchesse d'An- 
gouleme trees in the orchard. 

The following statement gives the amount of 
' each year's sales : 

The 1st crop, the trees eight years old, $120.00 



2d " 


a 






139.41 


3d " 


u 






156.17 


4th " 


a 






202.28 


5th " 


ii 






267.49 


6th " 


u 






310.20 


7th " 


(( 


Total. 




705.00 




..$1,900.55 



This row, two years ago, produced ninety-four 
bushels of marketable fruit, which sold for $705. 
There was a scarcity of peaches in market, and pears 
in consequence brought higher prices than usual. 

I will state in this connection, that this row is 
the oldest in our orchard, no other of an equal num- 
ber of trees has yielded so abundantly. 

We have single trees that will yield more. In 
1865, we sold from four trees, grafted only nine 
years, $100 worth of fruit. Since then we have 
gathered from one of these four trees, nineteen 



104 LARGE PROFIT. 

baskets of Bartletts, and sold them on the premises 
for $2.50 per peach basket, making $47.50 from a 
single tree. Under date of August 2d, 18G9, Dr. 
Sylvester, of Lyons, New York, writes to nie about 
the sum realized from forty Louise Bonne de Jersey 
trees ten years planted. lie says : 

" The orchard is on one of those ridges so com- 
mon in this region, and has an Eastern aspect. 
These trees occupy four short rows, ten in a row, 
making forty trees in all, in the orchard. They 
were planted in 1858, and were ten years old at the 
time of the crop, which was in the autumn of 1868. 
The trees had received good cultivation, but have 
never been highly manured, as the soil, which is a 
gravelly loam, is suflttciently strong to produce healthy 
trees with moderate fertilizing. They were planted 
ten feet each way (I should now plant 12 or 14), and 
hence do not occupy but little ground ; allowing for 
five feet of ground outside the rows, the amount of 
land is about one-eighth of an acre. The forty trees 
produced, in 1868, forty bushels of selected pears, 
which sold in "Washington Market, 'New York, for 
six ($6) dollars per bushel, average price, or $240 for 
the one crop, being at the rate of nineteen hundred 
and twenty dollars per acre. These were not selected 
rows, but were all together, and all the Louise Bonne 
de Jersey trees there were in the orchard ; and I am 



MANY DRAWBACKS. ]05 

pleased to say that at the time of writing this (Au- 
gust 2d, 1869) the same trees have a fair crop, I 
should estimate that there are two- thirds as many as 
last year." 

From practical experience, we are thoroughly con- 
vinced that pear culture can be made to pay a large 
profit, and that it is a safe investment when fruit 
growers are willing to comply with all the require- 
ments. We have found it profitable, although, dur- 
ing our apprenticeship, we met with many reverses. 
But, instead of being discouraged by these draw- 
backs, they only incited extra eftbrts on our part. 



CHAPTER XY. 

PROPAGATION, BUDDING AND GKAFTING. 

In a purely practical work like this, on the 
"Profits of Pear Culture," it would be out of place 
to give a detailed account of the history of the pear ; 
my intention has been throughout, to give only such 
facts as may prove of value to those about to embark 
in the business, or may be of some assistance to those 
already engaged in it. 

It is quite evident from the facts stated, that no 
fear need be entertained of the markets being, at an 
early date, overstocked with pears; but there is 
every reason to believe that choice fruit will always 
command paying prices, and that the careful culti- 
vator will always be rewarded for his labor in this 
branch of horticulture. As pear culture becomes 
more systematized and the science of growing trees 
better understood, the introduction of any new and 
valuable varieties will be cordially received by the 
horticultural public throughout the country. 

It may justly be said that " Young America" is 
still in her childhood in pear growing, for at no time 



ALL NEW VARIETIES. 



107 



in our history as a nation lias there beea greater 
need of practical and definite information on the 
subject of horticulture than at present. 

All new vp.rieties must be obtained by sowing 
seed and waiting patiently for such seedlings to pro- 
duce fruit. This was a slow and tedious process, 
taking from fifteen to twenty-five years, before 
enough data could be gained, either to recommend 
or to discard a seedling. This length of time, how- 
ever, has been overcome, and now, with the practi- 
cal application of budding, grafting and pruning, 
the same results can be secured in five years that 
formerly took a quarter of a century. 

Peak Stock. — The established varieties are easily 
multiplied by budding and grafting. What are 
known as standards, are budded or grafted on pear 
roots; and dwarfs are those worked on the Angers 
Quince roots, which make a good union with some 
varieties of the pear. 

Although pear suckers are sometimes used for 
stock, seedlings are always preferable for this pur- 
pose. The business of growing seedlings for stock 
is quite distinct from the general nursery trade, and 
many who propagate pear trees on a large scale, 
purchase their stock from some one here, or import 
their yearly supply. 

In order to grow healthy seedlings for stock, the 



108 TACK IN MOIST EARTH. 

ground must be deep and in " good heart," not over 
stimulated by putrescent manures. Collect the seed 
from the common pear, and sow it in shallow drills 
in April. During the summer the surface of the 
ground should be kept loose and entirely free from 
weeds. If not large enough for transplanting when 
one year old, the bed should be mulched with salt 
hay, straw or other litter, as a protection against the 
alternate freezing and thawing, which often destroy 
large numbers of seedlings. In the fall of the second 
year, the seedlings may be "lifted" carefully, and 
the roots with a portion of the body packed in moist 
sand or earth, and placed in a cellar until spring, 
when they should be transplanted into the nursery. 
The plants are to be set about a foot apart in the 
row, and the rows three to three and a half feet 
apart. 

By the first of August, the bark will separate 
readily from the wood, and the stock may then be 
budded with such varieties as are wanted. 

The buds should be taken from young healthy 
trees. An active person will set from 2 to 3,000 
buds in ten hours with another person to follow and 
tie. 

The branches of buds are cut from the growing 
trees and trimmed as seen in Fig. 10. The operator 
then cuts off six or eight buds at a time, and places 



'iMi 



FIG. 11. 




■x. 
1 11' 

FIG. 12. — A BUX>. 
FIG. 10.— BBANCH OF BUDS. 



110 



HOW TO FASTEN A BUD. 



them between his lips, tlnis leaving both hands free 
to use the budding knife. The incision in the stock 
is made in the form of a T, the bark is separated by 
pushing down the ivory part of the knife, opening 
both sides of the cut at once. This I find an im- 
provement on the old fashioned knife, which requires 
two movements to do what can be done in one with 
the knife as seen in Fig. 11. 

The part of the bud that ^^ 
projects above the cross incision 
can be cut off. 

The bud is then fastened by 
wrapping around the stock above 
and below the eye a narrow band 
of bass matting. 

In the orchard, on large trees, 
to change the variety, 1 have, 
instead of grafting, frequently 
inserted, during the month of 
August, si^ions three inches long. 
Tlie scion is beveled on one side 
and pressed into an incision 
made in the branch (Fig. 13), 
and fastened the same as in bud- 
ding. It might be termed sum- 
mer grafting. In the following 
February or March, in case the 




ANGEKS QUINCE. Ill 

bud or scion has " taken," the stock is cut off just 
above where the bud was inserted, making the cut 
on the opposite side from the bud. In the ensuing 
Maj, the eye will push forth, and at the end of 
the growing season, the young tree will consist of a 
single upright shoot, as described in the chapter on 
pruning. 

DwAEFS. — The Angers Quince is the best vari- 
ety yet known for dwarfing the pear. It has been 
extensively used in this country for the past twenty 
years. But as little or no discrimination was ex- 
ercised about the varieties of pears to w^iich it is 
really adapted, it has failed to give satisfaction in 
many localities and now its condemnation is as 
severe as its former laudation was extravagant. 

This variety of quince is propagated for nursery 
purposes by layers and cuttings. The latter are 
made about eighteen inches long, and set out thickly 
in rows. When one year old, they are " lifted " and 
planted in the nursery and treated in the same way 
as described for pear seedlings. The quince stock 
is more easily propagated than the pear, it is more 
certam to " take," and it is therefore a favorite stock 
in the nursery. 

In budding the quince stock with the pear, from 
ninety to ninety-five per cent, of the buds will grow, 
but of many varieties of pear, budded ou their own 



112 WORTHLESS VARIETIES. 

stock, not more than fifty per cent, of the buds will 
take the first season. 

Grafting. — There are few persons, indeed, who 
have planted pears, either in the garden or orchard, 
who have not been compelled, sooner or later, to 
learn the simple art of grafting, that they may be 
able to make such changes in varieties as experience 
dictates. This operation is all important to the 
wide-awake orchardist, in order to substitute profit- 
able for worthless varieties, with the loss of as little 
time as possible. There is nothing more discour- 
aging to the fruit grower, after having waited ten or 
a dozen years, than to find it necessary to put a new 
head on his trees before getting any returns. But, 
under the circumstances, it is the only choice left. 

There are many methods of grafting practised in 
this country. We have adopted in our orchard cleft 
grafting ; for large stocks I prefer it to the other 
modes. 

In the latitude of New York, we commence 
grafting the pear about the first of April, and con- 
tinue through the month. On large trees, we graft 
about one-half of the top the first season, and the 
balance in the spring of the second and third years. 

The branches are sawed off about twelve or 
eighteen inches from the body of the tree, and the 
top of the stock made smooth with a sharp knife. 



INSERTING SCIONS. 113 

The stock is then split in the center, by means of a 
large knife with a broad back, ten or twelve inches 
long, beveled on both sides. The knife is struck 
with a wooden mallet, splitting the stock two or 
three inches. A wedge is then placed in the center 
of the stock nntil the scions are prepared and pressed 
in place, when the wedge is withdrawn. The stock 
immediately closes on the scions and keeps the grafts 
firmly in place. 

Cleft Gkapting. — When inserting the Bcions, 
their inner bark should correspond to that of the 
stock. Then cover the top of the stock and both 
sides, with grafting wax. In two weeks the buds of 
the scions will begin to swell, and will frequently 
make five or six feet of wood the first year. During 
the summer, in consequence of cutting off" a portion 
of the top of the tree, a number of young shoots 
will start from the old stock. These should be re- 
moved ; if allowed to remain, they will materially 
injure the growth of the scions. The scions should 
be cut back the following spring, so that they will 
throw out side shoots, near the union, and form a 
stocky and symmetrical head. 

Whip Grafting. — This method, although not 
often made use of in the orchard, is very common 
with nurserymen for grafting seedling stocks. These 
are lifted in the fall and heeled in. During the 



GRAFTING WAX. 115 

winter the scions are prepared, the stocks grafted, 
and carefally packed away with moist earth or sand, 
until thev are planted in the open ground the follow- 
ing spring. If they grow well, the nurseryman 
gains one year over budding. The stocks and 
scions must be prepared and put together with great 
care. They are fastened by winding around the 
stock narrow strips of strong paper or muslin, 
coated with grafting wax and well secured. 

Grafting Wax. — A neighbor, who, for the past 
twenty years, has been very successful in grafting in 
this vicinity, makes his own grafting wax. He uses 
the following materials, in the relative proportion 
named : 

4 lbs. white rosin. 

1 " bees wax. 

1 pint of linseed oil. 

These substances are put into an iron vessel and 
heated until they can be thoroughly mixed by stir- 
ring. The compound is then thrown into cold water, 
and worked by hand in a similar manner to drawing 
molasses candy. 

At first the wax will be dark brown, but when 
sufficiently worked the color changes to a light yel- 
low. The wax is then formed into round sticks, 
three or four inches in length and one in diameter. 
It may be kept in water until wanted for use. 



116 VEXATIOUS MOMENTS. 

For late grafting, four and a half pounds of rosin 
should be used, to prevent the wax softening under 
a hot sun when first applied. 

Before handling the wax, either in making it or 
in grafting, the operator should oil his hands, or else 
he will experience some vexatious moments in the 
endeavor to get rid of this tenacious substance. I 
have used this kind of grafting wax for ten years, 
and 1 can vouch for its superior quality for orchard 
purposes. Wax made from the above receipt is 
worked with ease in cold weather, it stands the heat 
of the sun very well, and is much superior in these 
respects to wax made with tallow instead of linseed 
oil. When tallow is used, the mixture is more 
sticky, for this reason many nurserymen prefer it in 
coating paper or muslin for whip grafting, described 
in another place. 



CHAPTEE XYI. 



PKACTICAL SUGGESTIONS. 



Trees Girdled by Field Mice. — How to Save 
Them. — The obstacles with which the practical hor- 
ticulturist has to contend are numerous. If he 
wishes his orchards to produce paying crops of fruit, 
he must be constantly on the alert, bestowing care 
on this or that tree, removing a branch from another, 
using the pruning knife for some special object, 
either to retard or encourage growth in a certain 
direction. The labor is not at all times arduous, but 
constant watchfulness is required, and sound knowl- 
edge of the business, before the thousand and one 
annoyances that are constantly occurring can be 
overcome. 

No experience of the horticulturist is so dismal 
or discouraging as when, entering his orchard soon 
after snow disappears in the spring, he finds that his 
trees are badly injured — many fatally so — by the 
ravages of those abominable pests, the field mice. 

The winters of 186Y and 1868 were the most 
severe, and, in many respects, the most remarkable, 



118 FIELD MICE. 

known in this section for many years. From early 
in December, snow-storms followed each other at 
short intervals, usually accompanied by heavy wind, 
in certain places drifting and piling up the snow 
several feet high. About the first of March nearly 
all our pear orchard lay under a bed of snow five 
feet in depth, a part of which remained on the 
ground until the beginning of April. When the 
surface was clear, I soon found, on examination, evi- 
dence of the activity of these mice. Forty-one pear 
trees were injured — some half way round the body, 
others had but a narrow connection of bark left — 
and, to my great dismay, twenty-six trees, for which 
I would not have entertained an offer of $500, were 
completely girdled. There were a number barked 
two feet above the surface of the ground, and some 
of the main branches were eaten badly. 

Under the circumstances, it was imperative that 
something should be done. If left as they were, the 
trees could not survive. From each of them the 
bark had been most effectuallv removed, leaving; a 
bare place of wood twelve inches wide. 

Some years ago, in hunting up horticultural curi- 
osities, I found, to my surprise, on the farm of John 
Brill, near Newark, a large cherry tree, about ten 
inches in diameter, that, when young, had been 
girdled, and in which he had inserted three scions in 



A GIRDLED TREE. 



119 



an upright position. The tree was living and look- 
ing perfectly healthy. It was supported on three 
short columns, with the portion of the body that had 
been girdled, dead and removed, thus leaving an 
opening in the trunk of the tree between the col- 
umns. 

Remembering the successful experiment with the 
cherry tree, I now set to work ; prepared the scions 
by beveling them on the same side at both ends, and 
with a budding knife made an opening both on the 
upper and lower edges of the bark. In each tree 
that was completely girdled, I inserted three scions, 
and where there was a small connection of bark left, 
I inserted one scion. I fastened them by a band, 




iss,v»5.^^ 



FIG. 16. 



120 KEEP THE BARK CLEAN. 

tlie same as is used in budding, and then put on 
some grafting wax, so that the air would be excluded 
where the ends of the scions were inserted. The 
adjoining cut is an accurate drawing of one of these 
girdled trees at the end of the first season. There 
were three scions inserted in this tree. By this sim- 
ple means, every one of the trees were saved, and to- 
day they look as healthy and vigorous as any in the 
orchard. On this occasion, however, I found that 
the trees injured were those growing in or near 
grass, and although I could trace the paths of the 
mice in diiFerent parts of the orchard, no tree that 
stood in plowed ground had been touched. 

The knowledge of this fact I consider valuable. 
In the future I will keep the surface of the ground 
entirely free from grass. 

A Wash fok Pear Trees. — It has been re- 
marked by a close observer of human nature, that 
the moral tone of a community can readily be esti- 
mated from a knowledge of the amount of soap 
used therein. 

It may be said with equal propriety, that the 
health and fruitfulness of a pear orchard depends to 
a great extent on the cleanliness of the bark. To 
preserve an orchard in vigor and health, the barh 
must 1)6 Tcept clean. The growth of moss and fungi 
on the body and branches of a fruit tree indicates 



POTASH WASH. 



121 



an unhealthy condition, besides aifording a covering 
for its insect enemies. "When the bark is kept clean 
and smooth, they are forced to find shelter else- 
where. 

For many years we have nsed a wash made by 
dissolving one pound of caustic potash in one gallon 
of water. This is applied to the trees with a brush, 
in the latter part of March or any time in April, be- 
fore the trees come into leaf. Two applications of 
this solution will cleanse the bark thoroughly. On 
large and old trees that have been neglected, it is 
better to scrape the bark before applying the wash. 
There is no great amount of time required for the 
operation ; one man, with a pail and brush, can wash 
the bodies and some of the main branches of from 
150 to 200 trees in a day. One application in April 
will effectually remove the aphis or bark louse. 
Care should be exercised in washing the trees, not to 
touch the young buds or twigs, as it may kill them. 

We have also used the '' soda wash," made by 
dissolving one pound of caustic soda in one gallon 
of water. This is less powerful than the potash 
wash. It may be applied to any part of the fruit 
trees without injury to the young buds. Both of 
these washes are excellent for cleansing the bark of 
all kinds of fruit trees. Whitewash is sometimes 
used as a wash on fruit trees. It is better under all 



122 THE BLIGHT, 

circumstances, to apply the lime direct to the soil, 
and use either the potash or soda for cleansing pur- 
poses. As it requires 700 quarts of water to dissolve 
one quart of lime, if used as a wliitewash, it simply 
forms a paste, which will fill the pores of the bark 
and do more injury than good. 

The Blight, — This alarming disease, that has 
made such havoc among the pear trees in some sec- 
tions, made its first appearance in our orchard four 
years ago. During this time we have had twenty- 
nine cases, fourteen of which have proved fatal, the 
others are now rapidly recovering from the effects. 
With us, this disease has been partial to certain 
varieties. For instance, out of the twenty -nine, six- 
teen were Glout Merceau, four Flemish Beauty, four 
Vicar of Winkfield, three Belle Lucrative, and two 
Louise Bonne de Jersey. Another singular fact in 
this connection is, that twenty-three of these trees 
were growing in the same section of the orchard, 
quite near each other, on low and naturally wet 
land. I do not believe, however, that the character 
of the soil or situation engenders this disease. 

Our plan has been, the instant any tree showed 
signs of being affected, to saw or cut off the branches 
or main stem, six or eight inches below where the 
disease appeared. When the branches injured were 
large, we have put in some scions the following 



INSECTS. 123 

spring. This treatment has been in a measure suc- 
cessful — saving more than half the trees attacked. 
The diseased wood was at once removed from the 
orchard and burned. Among the trees badly in- 
jured or killed bj the blight were some of the most 
vigorous in the orchard, giving no outward indica- 
tions of an unhealthy condition. In some cases the 
whole top of the tree was instantly killed as if by a 
stroke of lightning. To the practical orchardist this 
disease is in every way most alarming. 

Insects. — To protect fruit trees from their insect 
enemies requires constant watchfulness at certain 
periods of the season. 

Tlie work is not laborious, but calls for prompt 
action. For the last four years the common tent 
caterpillar has given us more trouble in the orchard 
than any other insect. Unless instant measures are 
taken to destroy them on their first appearance, they 
soon make sad havoc with the foliage. The quickest 
and most efiectual way to prevent their ravages, is 
to go over tiie orchard carefully in winter, and re- 
move the eggs, which will be found deposited near 
the ends of the young branches and twigs. These 
eggs are protected by a glutinous substance which 
makes a rough looking surface that can be readily 
distinguished when the trees are bare of foliage. If 
any of tliese nests escape the notice of the operator, 



124 CUECCLIO. 

then in the spring, when the young caterpillars 
make their first appearance in weaving their tents, 
instant measures should be taken for their destruc- 
tion. Practically I find the best way to destroy 
these pests, is to remove the tents by hand, crush- 
ing the caterpillars at the same time. This can be 
done with or without a buck-skin glove. I have 
tried all other methods recommended, and consider 
this best. 

The most effectual and easy way to fight the 
curculio with pears, is to have the pear trees vigorous 
and healthy by keeping the ground in good heart. 
For a number of years I have noticed that on strong 
healthy trees the pears very soon outgrow the cres- 
cent mark of the curculio, while on weak or sickly 
trees the fruit is usually disfigured, and worthless 
for market purposes. However, all such I remove 
from the trees at once, and also allow none that drop 
off to remain on the ground longer than twelve 
hours before being gathered, and taken to the hog 
pen. The safest method is to endeavor to keep the 
bearing trees healthy, and to remove at once all dis- 
figured and worm-eaten fruit, whether found on the 
tree or ground. 



CHAPTER XYII. 



OECHAKD KECOKD. 



Comparatively few persons start a record of the 
names of their trees or their relative position in the 
garden or orchard at tlie time of planting. Every- 
body who plants trees intends to make such memo- 
randa, but it is put off and finally forgotten, until 
the labels fastened on by the nurseryman are de- 
faced by exposure. Then the tree is without a name, 
unless somebody recognizes tlie variety and satisfies 
the owner, who is most anxious to learn the name of 
the fruit and its date of ripening. 

The subjoined orchard record is very simple, and 
will be found of practical value to the fruit grower. 

It is intended that each variety sliould be repre- 
sented by a number (for instance, let the Bartlett be 
represented by 1, Duchesse d'Angouleme by 2, 
Seckel by 3, and so on), and, by afiixing the names 
of pears to the numbers designating the rows, we 
accomplish a double purpose. Of course, whenever 
the same number occurs in any other row, the vari- 
ety is recognized at once by referring to the same 



126 



ORCHARD RECOKD. 



number in the side column of the page whicli indi- 
cates the rows. 

On the upper side of the table we simply have a 
row of consecutive figures — 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, etc. — so as 
to be able to find at once the 1st, 2d, 3d, 4th or 5th 
tree in any row. For instance, if 4 be the represent- 
ative figure of the Seckel, then finding a 4 in the 
square vertically numbered 7 and horizontally desig- 
nated by 8, we can at any time tell by consulting the 
table that the tth tree in the 8th row of our orchard 
is a 4 (or Sectel). If this Seckel should prove a 
failure and we decide to substitute a Bartlett (or 1), 
then, by crossing ofif the 4 in our table and putting 
in 1 in the same square, we ever afterwards may see 
at a glance that the Yth tree in the 8th row is a Bart- 
lett instead of a Seckel, which has been removed. 

The same system of recording a change of sorts 
holds good in the case of grafting, budding, etc., etc. 



ORCHARD RECORD. 



127 



NAMES. 


1 

n 
~1 

2 

~3 
~4 
~5 
~6 
7 
~8 
~9 
10 
11 
12 
13 
14 
15 

16 
17 

18 
19 
20 
21 
22 
23 
24 


1 


2 


3 




4 5 


G 


7 


8 


9 

_ 


10 

_ 


11 


12 

r 



13 


14 


15 



128 



ORCHARD RECORD. 



NAXES. 

1 


1 

1 

^ 

~3 
~i 
~5 
"6 

7 
8 

"9[ 
10 

IT 

12 
13 
14 
15| 
16 
17 
18 
19 

2o: 

21 
22 
23 
24 


16 


17 


18 




19 


20 


21 


22 


23 


'24 


25 


26 


27 




28 


29 






'30 



ORCHAED EECOED. 



129 



NAMES. 


1 
1 

2 
~3 
It 

~5 

^ 

"9j 

ro| 
iij 

12 
13 
14 
15 
16 
17 
18 
19 
20 
21 
22 
23 
24 


31 


32 


33 


34 35 


36 




37 


38 


39 


40 




41 


42 


43 




44 


45 



130 



ORCHARD RECORD. 



ITAMES. 


1 

n 

~2 
~3 
~4 
~5 
~6 
~7 
~8 
~9 
10 
11 
12 
13 
14 
15 
16 
17 
18 
19 
20 
21 
22 
23 
24| 


46 

_ 


47 


48 


49 

i 
~1 


50 


51 


52 

_ 


53 


54 


55 

1 


56 

i 


57 


58 

I 

i 
1 
i 
1 


59 



i 


60 



ORCHARD EECOED. 



131 



XAMES. 


1 












— 







;; 


_ 


— 






~" 


— 



132 



ORCHAKD RECORD. 



S^AMBS. 


1 

25 
26 
27 
28 
29 
30 
31 
32 
33 
34 
35 
36 
37 
38 
39 
40 
41 
42 
43 
44 
45 
46 
47 
48 


1 




2 

z 


3 


±1 

1 


6 

_ 


7 


8 


9 


10 


11 


12 


13 


\4 


'lo 



OKCHAKD RECORD. 



133 



IT AMDS. 


O 

» 

25 

26, 

27j 

28| 

29 

30 

31 

32 

33 

34 

35 

36 

37 

38 

39 

40 

41 

42 

43 

44 

45 

ifc 

47 

4^ 


16 



1 

J 


17 li 

r 

!_ 

I[ 


5' 1920! 

i 


21^ 


52 


23! 

_ 

I 


1 
24! 




25 2( 




28*1 


29:. 


30 



134 



ORCHARD RECORD. 



JfAHSS. 


1 

25 
2G 
27 
28 
29 
30 
31 
32 
3§ 
34 
35 
36 
37 
38 
39 

io; 

41 
42 
43 
44 
45 
46 
47 
48 


31 


32 

1 

i 

_l 


33 


34 35 




36 


37 


38 


39 


40 


41 


42 
1 


43 




'44 

1 


'45 

I 



ORCHARD RECORD. 



136 



46 



47 



4849 50 



25 
26 

27 
28 
29 
30 
31 
32j 
33 
34 
35 
36; 
37j 
38| 
39| 
40 
41 
42 
43' 
44} 

4^ 
_l 
46 

47 

48 



51 52 53 54 55 



56 



0; 



58 5960 



13G 



OKCHAED EECOED. 



